Exculpatory Evidence
by DusktoDawn21
Summary: When Vanessa discovers her co-worker murdered at her apartment she reaches out to the Hardy boys to help find the killer, only to discover the enemy is much more powerful than they had anticipated.
1. Chapter 1

_**A big thanks to my BETA Dragonmaster65 who is indeed a master in weaving stories and has a way with words. Her patience and invaluable advice were key as I wrote this story.**_

 _A/N: Frank is 23 & Joe is 22 in this story. They share an apartment in the suburbs of Bayport. There is a bit of violence, death and a description of a dead body. I hope you have just as much fun reading this story as I did writing it. This story is complete and has 13 chapters. I will be posting every Thursday._

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 **Chapter 1**

Panic gripped Vanessa's heart and she could feel her hands shaking as she dialed 911. She felt faint. Her hands had blood on them – hers or James', she couldn't tell. Vanessa was glad she didn't have to wait alone as her heartbeat increased with every passing minute. Her neighbor, Miss Perkins came to stand with her as they waited for the cops and ambulance. Every few minutes the kindhearted woman would say something soft and conciliatory to Vanessa. She didn't hear most of it as her mind still raced.

Just this morning she'd had Coffee with James, and now… now he was dead!

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The welcome scent of coffee wafted through the air of the quaint little café Vanessa Bender was sitting in. It was a gorgeous day and seemed almost immoral to not be outdoors. The sun had heated the chair, and it felt comforting and warm. The attractive woman looked around for a waitress, the need for caffeine consuming her mind.

Birds swooped in from every direction, hoping for a stray crumb to feast on. The pavement was covered with squabbling, pecking pigeons. Children ran at them, squealing with pleasure as they scrambled off into the air.

Just as her coffee arrived, Vanessa looked up to see her co-worker James Obler take a seat across from her. James was wearing a hoodie, a baseball cap on his head and dark sunglasses. Vanessa and James worked together in the IT division at Ophelia Pharmaceuticals.

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Hey," he mumbled back.

"What is it that you couldn't tell me at work and had to meet me incognito?" Vanessa teased him. Then her eyes widened. "This is not a date I hope because I was pretty clear when I said the last time that I'm not interested in you that way".

"This is serious Vanessa. I- I may have made a huge mistake," James stammered. He looked around furtively, pulling his hat down further over his eyes.

"What did you do? Whatever it is I am sure nobody noticed. Everyone is super busy with the roll out of the new drug," Vanessa said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I came across an audio clip when I was cleaning out the drives from the old computers. He hesitated for a bit before continuing. "I, uh, it sounded like a woman was having an affair with Mr. Emerson."

Michael Emerson was the Chief Operating Officer at the company, in line to run Ophelia Pharmaceuticals which was currently headed by his father in law, Robert Virtanen. If this information came to light, Mr. Emerson would be in a world of pain.

Vanessa's eyes widened in alarm."Oh No! What did you do?"she cried.

James rubbed his face "I'm hard up on cash, Van. I just wanted to make a little money," he explained. His face twisted before continuing."I _may_ have sent Mr. Emerson a copy of the audio file and a letter asking for cash. Or else I was going to give the audio to Cipla pharmaceutical company."

Vanessa stared at her co-worker in shock. Cipla was Ophelia Pharmaceuticals staunch rival. James had certainly gotten himself into quite the situation. Her coffee sat forgotten on the table. The waitress arrived to ask if they needed anything; both shook their heads vehemently.

"Why are you telling me all this? What happened?" Vanessa said once she had found her voice.

"I never said who I was in the letter or where to send the money, but when I went to work the next day the money was there, sitting in my drawer along with a note telling me to leave the audio clip in the filing cabinet room," James said.

He let out a shaky breath before continuing. "I did as I was told, but I have a feeling I'm being followed. I may go on a vacation, get out of here for a while, but I just had to tell someone about all of this." James sighed deeply "What I did is eating away at me and Van; you have been a good friend," he said, reaching out to hold her hand.

Vanessa pulled her hands back as if electrocuted by his touch. "Blackmail?" she cried. "You resorted to blackmail? What you did was horrible! And now you're telling me about it! If you're being followed how do you know they aren't here watching us right now?"

She stood up swiftly. "I don't need this. Please don't talk to me or try to contact me," she insisted. James reached out once more to convince her to stay, but she refused to listen any longer.

Vanessa left the café hurriedly, her heart beating very fast and an unsettling feeling welling inside her. She didn't see James back at work that afternoon.

Later that night Vanessa trudged homeward, tired from the day. Her conversation with James still rattled her, and she was angry that he had sought her out to tell her of his exploit. She struggled with the key for a few moments before realizing that she had been trying to open the door with the wrong key. Her hands were shaking slightly as she opened the door and walked in. She took a few steps inside towards the side table where her lamp stood and turned on the lights.

Vanessa gasped! Her things were all over the place. Her laptop monitor was propped up when she clearly had put her laptop away in the bag; papers were strewn randomly and her sofa throw pillows were on the floor. She slowly realized that her apartment had been ransacked as if someone had been looking for something. Surprisingly her diamond earrings were still on her coffee table where she had removed them the previous day. There was an odd sort of smell - metallic and pungent - in the air as well, though that thought was quickly pushed out as Vanessa came to another.

 _The intruder might still be here._ Her insides ran cold.

No sooner had she turned around to get out of her apartment and call the police when she tripped and fell hard on the floor. Her hands felt warm and sticky, and as she tried to get up her right hand slid across something sharp that cut her.

Yelping with pain from the cut she stood up and saw what had tripped her. Vanessa froze at the sight before her. James Obler lay on his back, not three feet from her front door, in a pool of blood. Now she knew what gave the room that sickly-sweet smell. A bloody knife lay next to the body, probably the murder weapon _, and now she had her blood on it_.

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 _A/N: I am always interested to hear what my readers think. All suggestions are welcome. Should you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask or PM me. Thanks!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A shout out to my BETA Dragonmaster65! Thank you for putting up with my insanity and pushing me to constantly improve.**

 _A/N: Thank you so much to all my readers and reviewers, especially those who have favourited this story. I am feeling cooler than a coke in the Artic. Now for reviews:_

 _Courtneywilliams561, ErinJordan, sm2003495, Newtothis351 & Max2013: Thank you. I present to you the 2_ _nd_ _chapter_

 _Ritu, Radiant eyes & Cherylann Rivers: Callie, who?_

 _Caranath: Only one way to find out- read on!_

 _Drumboy: Just a case of a Hamlet lying around when I was looking for inspiration. (pssttt I had to look up Exculpatory as well)_

 _Evergreendreamweaver & Candylou: You don't want to be in her shoes right now_

 _Hbndgirl: I commend your attention to details. Don't you go solving the mystery before the boys do._

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Attn: There is a curse word in this chapter (Sorry)

 **Chapter 2**

Joe Hardy groaned, "Oh no, that feeling again." That head-spinning, nothing-seems-quite-as-it-should-be sensation. He couldn't focus properly. This feeling was a prominent feature of Saturday mornings after clubbing on Friday nights. Except today was Thursday morning.

He dragged himself out of bed and stood up. Big mistake; his head pounded and he wavered unsteadily trying to find his balance. But he knew that he had to soldier on and get through. There was a pain in his face and his eyes hurt. He limped to the bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Oh my God!"

He had to look again, to make sure. He was positive that someone who felt as bad as he did should be looking like a corpse. He was right. Disheveled blond hair now covered his head. All his teeth twinged and his stomach burned. He remembered his brother saying that club scenes weren't his cup of tea and that Joe was more than capable of gathering information on their client's cheating husband all by his lonesome. The younger Hardy had obliged. It had been so boring watching the man go through girls like they were some commodity that Joe had treated himself to a few glasses of whiskey, neat.

Only now, the lovely effects of the whiskey were quite gone, and only the nasty ones were left; the taste in the mouth, the splitting ache in the brow, and the impotence of not being able to clarify one's thoughts.

The splash of cold water against his face felt refreshing. He stank of alcohol. A nice cold shower should do him good, he decided. He felt far from good.

He finished a quick shower and then groaned. He was still dizzy. After unsuccessfully trying to pull on his pants for a few seconds, he realized it was his shirt he had been trying to pull on. Muttering under his breath, he reached for his pants.

Once the daunting task of getting dressed was over, he walked into his brother's bedroom- empty. Right - his brother had spent the night at his girlfriend's.

 _Crap!_ It meant he would have to make coffee and breakfast which was usually ready and waiting when his older brother was home. He gingerly walked to the kitchen and got the coffee started.

 _Toast, eggs, cereal? Fuck that! Granola bars will have to do_.

The drive to Hardy & Sons was a painful one. His head still hurt a lot and the dark sunglasses did absolutely nothing against the blinding sun. As he parked his van, Joe frowned. While following cheating spouses was good money, he was itching for a real case.

After graduating, the brothers had obtained their PI license and together along with their father opened up Hardy & Sons, a detective agency. Joe was a very good detective. Although he solved most of the cases that came their way with his older brother, he had solved a few on his own.

He didn't have to itch any longer. As he made his way to the front door of his office, he noticed a beautiful young woman standing at the entrance of Hardy & Sons. She had ash blonde hair and blue gray eyes that hinted of fear in them. "Hi, my name is Vanessa Bender," she said. The smile she gave Joe was strained.

 _Nooooooooo! Not another follow my husband! Kill me already._

To her he flashed a smile.

"I'm Joe Hardy! What can we do for you?" he asked, his bright blue eyes boring into hers.

"Please help me! I am being framed for murder!"

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A warm breeze ruffled his dark hair. The morning rays illuminated the bedroom where Frank Hardy lay. The bed sheets were white and the lacy bed-skirt hung down all the way to the floor, where it swished about softly in the breeze that came in through the open bay window. They weren't exactly on the beach but were close enough to Barmet Bay that you could almost taste the salt in the air.

Frank woke up to see his longtime girlfriend, Callie Shaw, stretching her thin arms, yawning and making soft sighs to herself. She hugged her little shoulders, her eyelids fluttering, and she smiled with her mouth closed, content.

For a little while he pretended to be asleep, watching her enjoy the breeze and the sunlight, the coolness of the bed, or whatever it was that seemed to bring her so much happiness. He held his breath and drank in her beauty as she silently slid out of the bed. Her toes touched the floor and she moved across the room, her hips swaying as if she weighed nothing at all.

After all this time, Frank was still astounded by just how deeply he cared for her. Kissing her lips was like drinking great draughts of cool milk and spiced honey. She was his sense of peace in the chaos of the world.

Caught in her own routine, Callie was unaware of how even now she'd captivated him. She arched her back and tossed her golden blonde hair before kneeling at the window. Birds were just starting to sing outside, and she ran her pearl-colored comb through her hair.

Watching her, Frank fell back into the lazy sort of late-morning dreams that were so full of meaning at the time, but later he knew would seem foolish. As the morning wandered on, he could see her in little snips and vignettes, half mixed in with his wandering dreams. Finally he threw the sheets off and sat up. He walked into the kitchen where Callie was eating half a grapefruit and licking the spoon. She smiled at him as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Good morning, Frank!"

"Mornin' love," he replied, pouring himself some coffee. "Fancy staying in today?"

"That would be a hard no. Some of us actually have to show up and get some work done. Not everyone can go into the family business," Callie replied

"You could freelance, work on your own terms." Something Frank always told her.

Frank hated working for someone, even his father. After graduating he had gone ahead and worked independently on his PI license until his father had sat him down about working together at Hardy & Sons. They would have a better pool of cases with a firm, which would benefit each of them. Frank had been assured that his cases were his own, and he could work however he wanted to. In the end it worked out well. He had his independence while still keeping an eye on Joe. That was one benefit that working solo couldn't afford him; Frank always wanted to have Joe's back.

Callie smiled wryly over her grapefruit. "I am happy where I am. Besides, I haven't yet made a name for myself that I could just freelance," she replied.

It was a familiar conversation. Callie was a journalist. Her passion had taken her to pursue dual degrees in her field before she relocated back home. There she had taken up a position at Bayport Times, which was a leading newspaper company with massive presence online.

"You have good work ethic, and your articles almost always make the front page," Frank countered. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Soon," she said. Callie tiptoed and planted a kiss on Frank's cheek.

Frank put an arm around her and rubbed his nose against her. "I am a glutton for you, you know?" he murmured.

"Now you're just flirting," Callie whispered back. She giggled as Frank started leaving butterfly kisses on her neck.

They had cereal with little slices of fruit for breakfast. Conversations and laughter filled the room. As Callie left for work she kissed him goodbye.

He watched her leave, lost in his thoughts when the constant buzzing of his phone jolted him back to the present. He glanced at his phone and raised an eyebrow. _They had a case._


	3. Chapter 3

**Give it up for Dragonmaster65 - Thank you for putting up with my insanity and pushing me to constantly improve.**

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story – Much appreciated!

 **Chapter 3**

Joe eyed the woman in front of him. She had just recounted to him an intriguing story, and he was not quite sure what to do. They were inside the office, and she was sitting on the couch trembling. He had given her a glass of water to drink. Her hands shook so bad that all the water ended up on the carpet and finally she gave up and put the glass down on the table.

"Vanessa," he started tentatively. He paused until she collected herself enough to nod. "I really need you to calm down. I want to help but you aren't making much sense."

A voice called out from the doorway, "Oh brother of mine, this 'case' you texted about better not have just been a rouse to get breakfast from me. I will annihilate you….oh hello?" Frank stopped short at the sight of Vanessa.

"Vanessa, this is my brother Frank Hardy. Why don't we start again with what happened from the beginning so we can fill him in as well," Joe said as he nodded at his brother. He paused to bite into the bagel Frank passed him as he took his seat on the far corner of the room.

Joe consulted his notes. Maybe having his brother here would put some of the burden off his still-aching head as they figured out what Vanessa was telling them. "You came home last night to find your co-worker dead in your living room floor; a James Obler who appears to be a victim of homicide?"

"Yes," Vanessa said with a nod. "I immediately called the police. When they got there I told them that he was a co-worker and that I had no idea what he was doing at my place. However, I didn't tell them everything."

Vanessa repeated the events from the day while breaking down a few times. It took coaxing from both Joe and Frank to open up about her concerns. Eventually she told them everything, her hand wringing.

"I figured that audio clip could have been the reason he got killed in the first place, and I certainly didn't want the people responsible to know that I was aware of the clip. But now that's made the police suspect me," she explained.

She sniffled and accepted a tissue from Joe. "I knew about your father - about Fenton Hardy always doing what he could as a private investigator - and, well, I didn't have much else of a choice. I thought maybe he or you-" she gestured to Joe "-could help out someone like me.",

Frank whistled. "You certainly have got yourself in a jam," he commented.

Vanessa flushed once more and wiped under her eyes. "Look, I'm not stupid. I know what this looks like. But I am telling you I have no idea what was on that damn audio file," she insisted between little huffs and sniffs. She was moments from tears again. "I never even heard it or asked who was having an affair with Michael Emerson. And I most certainly did NOT kill James."

"It wasn't me. Please. Please, you have to believe me," Vanessa pleaded and then broke down crying.

"We believe you," Frank said quietly.

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Perceptive in nature, Frank had noticed how scared the girl before him was and her body language spoke volumes. Either she was a really good actor, or she was telling the truth. Frank decided the latter.

"If these people are eliminating everyone that came in contact with the audio tape, you may not be out of the woods yet. Vanessa, do you have a place you can stay? Your apartment is out of question as these people obviously know where you live," he asked.

Vanessa shook her head. "I've got friends, but… well I don't know anyone I'd want to risk putting in danger like this," she said.

"You can stay with us. You'll be safe at our place," Joe volunteered quickly. Then he turned to look at Frank to confirm. He didn't leave Frank with much of a choice to say no about it.

Frank slowly nodded. Joe trusted easily and always chose to see the good side in people. Frank on the other hand didn't trust easy, and he was still sizing Vanessa up even though he believed her fear to be genuine. There still could have been more to her story. They needed to get cracking on their investigation to be sure one way or the other.

"We need to get our hands on the recording. It may very well be the key to solving this whole thing," said Frank as he opened his laptop and got busy.

With Vanessa resting in the couch of Joe's office, the brothers tried to learn as much as they could about Michael Emerson and Ophelia Pharmaceuticals. Frank called up a familiar friend.

"Hi Frank!" Callie's voice rang out as she answered her phone

Frank smiled. She had that effect on him, always. "Hey beautiful, we need a favour. What do you know about Ophelia pharmaceuticals?" he asked.

Callie had access to a huge database thanks to her job. The brothers decided that was as good a place to dig for initial leads.

"Hmmmm, let's see. We haven't really published much about the company. We have a Michael Emerson getting married to Mr. Virtanen's daughter. Then we have the consistent increase in the stock prices for Ophelia attracting investors from all around the world. Those are the big pieces. What are you looking for?"

"Anything you can find, anything at all," Frank said. He still made note of the first two bits of information. Anything could end up being useful. It was better to be over-informed than under. He listened to Callie's keyboard clacking away under her fingers as she searched.

Air rushed by the speaker as she shifted her phone. "Okay here is something," she said after a minute of searching. "A few years back the company was to release a promising drug for migraines that was going to increase its global brand and hopefully boost its stock price. However, the drug was never approved by the FDA, so the company had to put it on hold. This article never got past editorial review. I'm assuming because it didn't make for sensational news."

Frank could hear Callie tapping away once again on her keyboard. After a few moments of silence, she apologized to Frank, "Sorry honey - that's all I have."

"Okay, well thank you, Callie. See you tonight?" he offered.

"Only if you promise to tell me all about your case," Callie countered.

Frank laughed, "Will tell you when I see you. Love you!"

"Love you too - bye now!" Frank hung up the phone and turned to face his brother. Of course he'd been listening in.

"Sooooo, seemed like you got squat," Joe said. "Maybe we should follow Michael Emerson around? He doesn't know that Vanessa doesn't have the audio clip, and he may still come after her."

"That may be a tad bit difficult during the day when he's at work. I'm sure he's either inside his office or in confidential meetings. We can't follow him in there," Frank countered.

"Unless we can somehow plant a bug in his office," Joe proposed.

"Definitely. Just need to devise a way to plant it. It may also lead us to the woman Emerson is having an affair with. Our priority, however, is still to get that audio clip," Frank said. He picked up his phone to make another call, this time to Con Riley.

Con Riley was a respected detective of Bayport PD. He had often assisted the brothers and their father in their cases. The Hardys trusted him implicitly - Frank included - and they were very close.

"Whatever you want, the answer is NO," Det. Riley answered huskily.

Frank grinned. Typical Riley. "Awww, C'mon now," he said "No need for such tough love. Besides don't you want the collar when we solve this case like the last time. Or every other time before that?"

Static crackled as Riley sighed into the receiver. "Always ready with a quip, bright boy. What do you need?" he acquiesced.

After a few minutes of conversation and thanking Det. Riley once more, Frank turned to Joe. "Get this. Laptops acquired from both houses, Vanessa's and Obler's, are no good. Drives have been fried and nothing can be recovered from either," he relayed.

Joe let out a small whistle. "They really don't want the audio file surfacing. How about a little old fashioned search of both houses? You know - it is bugging me as to why Obler was at Vanessa's place. Maybe he hid it there?" Joe suggested.

"Why don't you check with Vanessa and see if it is okay for us to search her place and I can get Det. Riley to let me into Obler's place," Frank said.

Joe nodded. Then he bit his lip. "By the way," he said quietly, his eyes on the closed door to his office behind which Vanessa slept. "Are you okay to sleep on the floor? I'd rather not, given my ordeal last night."

Frank laughed and said, "Oh yeah, I did wonder the secret behind your ruggedly handsome look this morning. You actually have me beat today in the looks department".

"Get lost Frank! I did you a huge favour last night. As far as looks are concerned, I could roll outta bed a perfect ten compared to you!" Joe insisted.

"A delusion of grandeur."

"Whatever," Joe rolled his eyes and went off to speak with Vanessa as Frank's phone rang. It was Callie.

"Miss me already?" Frank answered.

"You wish, but that's not why I called," she replied. "Ophelia Pharmaceuticals has just issued a statement saying they discovered early this morning that one of their employees, Vanessa Bender, had tampered with confidential files. They are planning to file a lawsuit against her."


	4. Chapter 4

**A huge thanks to my wonderful BETA Dragonstar65 for her continuous support and encouragement in this endeavor of mine.**

 _a/n: Thank you so much for all your wonderful and generous reviews. Much appreciated!_

 **Chapter 4**

Vanessa did not think her day could have gone any worse. Ever since her fateful meeting with James Obler she had been deemed a suspect in his murder, her apartment was sealed off as an active crime scene, there were people who probably wanted her dead, and now she no longer had a job.

 _Yesterday, I was complaining about being single, having a relatively boring job and a very sedentary life. Today I would do anything to get my boring life back._

"Hey, how you holding up?" Joe asked softly. Vanessa hadn't replied when he told her about the lawsuit. He had a worried expression on his face.

Vanessa shook her head. "Not good, especially now that I know they are desperate to get me out of the picture," she answered truthfully.

"That means they are definitely hiding something," Joe offered.

"Is this what my life is going to be from now on. Living in fear, in hiding? I'm all my mother has. We already lived through it once. Growing up we had a nice house in Yonkers. My dad was a city official till he got snared in a corruption case. That case took everything from us, including my dad," she said. The simple question had opened a floodgate of emotion and previously forgotten fears.

Vanessa took a few deep breaths before continuing, "I spent the rest of my childhood in a little apartment in Queens with my mother. After school, I moved here and for the first time things were going according to plan. And now this."

Frank crouched down to where she was sitting on the couch with Joe. "Hey, look at me," he said in a soothing tone. "I know it seems like this is the end, but we do this for a living. We're going to get to the bottom of this, and we're going to find out who exactly is responsible. Just hang in there." He squeezed her hand.

Vanessa looked at Frank and slowly nodded.

Joe stood up and asked, "Yeah, Vanessa, what he said. Are you hungry? Do you want to get some lunch?"

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They were at Mr. Pizza, the Hardys' regular hangout joint since they were teenagers. Long hours had been spent here with friends like Chet, Iola, Phil, Tony, Biff, and Callie. Iola's sojourn in this world had sadly ended. Tony and Phil had moved away from Bayport. Those that remained - Biff, Chet, and Callie - worked long hours and hardly ever had time to hangout here anymore. Life moved on, but that didn't stop Joe from stealing time with his brother here when they had the chance.

And the pizza was just too delicious to leave to the past. Joe was already on his third slice.

Frank smiled at him, "Seems like the hangover is gone? Nothing like a good cheesy pizza to bring back the normalcy," Frank commented.

Joe gave Frank a thumbs up rather than speak through the mouthful of perfectly baked pie. Frank pushed his own empty plate forward and got up to chat with the pizzeria's owner.

Joe swallowed and called out with a wave, "Hey Mr. Prito."

The older man waved back before diving into an enthusiastic conversation with Frank.

Vanessa turned to Joe. "You get friends and family discount? You guys seem close with the owner," she commented.

"Sure did. But my jerk of a brother put a stop to that once we were gainfully employed. This place is owned by our friend Tony's father. Everybody thought Tony would take over the family business, but he surprised everyone when he flew off to greener pastures." Joe paused to take a bite.

"After school we would come here all the time. We had a special booth where we would catch up and talk about everything under the sun. Those were some fun times," Joe continued.

Vanessa smiled. "I bet this place holds a lot of memories for you guys. I thought I saw a picture of a few kids hanging up on the wall. Must that be you and your gang?"

"Damn right," Joe said. He beamed proudly as he wiped his hands on a napkin. It was always great to think about the old days. But, he still had business to follow through with as well. He couldn't treat this lunch out as the casual event it seemed.

He turned his focus back to Vanessa. "Enough about rascally young goof-offs. Tell me about your work," Joe asked.

Vanessa took a deep breath. "I started working there two and a half years ago. It was nice there, with benefits and bonuses. Not too crazy workload. There's always little stuff, things you complain about to friends or family, but my work life was pretty cool. Hindsight is 20/20 right?" she said, shaking her head and laughing roughly. Her head tipped back to look at the ceiling, and her eyes were shining.

Joe touched her arm lightly. "I am sorry." He paused and then said, "But if you don't finish your slice quickly I might eat it."

Vanessa blinked twice. Then, she laughed heartily. Her thumb wiped quickly under her eyes and the wetness there didn't return. "I have never seen anyone eat that many slices of pizza in such a short amount of time. I think you got some sauce on your shirt," Vanessa said.

She dabbed a napkin in water and started rubbing off the sauce stain from Joe's shirt. Their eyes met and Joe realized she was really close to him at that point. He could feel her breath on him. Vanessa must have realized that too as Joe could see a pretty blush on her face. A noise above caught their attention and both of them turned to see Frank who was clearing his throat.

"Right. Bill's all set. We should probably head back," Frank stated.

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Later that evening Vanessa left with the Hardy boys to go to their apartment. They had the evening planned out. Joe along with Vanessa would search her apartment for anything that would answer why James went there to begin with. Frank was going to search James' apartment for the audio file.

As soon as she walked into their fancy apartment, she was awestruck at how clean and spotless it was. The magazines were neatly stacked on the coffee table, tasteful pictures adorned the walls and the living area had curtains with colors that matched the sofa. It got her thinking about what Joe would feel when he saw her cluttered space and blushed.

"Yeah, Frank likes to pretend nobody lives in our house and I abide by it else I'll be thrown out," Joe commented as if he could tell what she had been thinking.

Vanessa giggled while Frank made a face.

While the boys got busy packing their knapsacks with flashlights, lockpicks, and pocket knives among other things, Vanessa sat on their couch pondering over the events from the day. She had remained in the loop on everything they had found out so far. Their partnership if anything had so far been impressive, and they had treated her with utmost respect. Then her mind wandered on the lawsuit that had been filed against her. Her stomach turned as she wondered just what trumped up evidence her own employer was now using against her.

The sound of the apartment lock turning broke Vanessa from her worries. A beautiful blonde walked in, balancing her laptop bag, purse, and Chinese takeout in her arms. "I brought dinner," she said merrily.

Frank walked up to her and helped her set the bags down and then pulled her close and gave her a lingering kiss. Still seated in the living room watching them, Vanessa blushed at the pure romance on such brazen display and quickly looked away.

"How was your day?" Frank asked letting her go.

"Ugh, I am so tired. There is just too much blood in my caffeine system. When are you guys leaving?"

"We should leave as soon as we can. Thanks for bringing dinner. Saves us some time," Frank said. He nodded towards Vanessa. "This is Vanessa Bender. Vanessa, this is my girlfriend Callie I told you about this morning."

Callie's eyes widened, Vanessa realized that it was she who had relayed information about the lawsuit earlier. "Nice to meet you Callie," Vanessa said.

Joe walked in to the living room as the women exchanged greetings. "Hi Callie!," he greeted her.

"Hey Joe! looking good," she replied back.

"Aww, thanks Cal. I don't know what to say."

"Just lie something, like I did," Callie teased.

Joe shook his head, "I always enjoy these moments of ours."He turned to Vanessa "Here," he said as he handed a taser to Vanessa. Joe appeared to notice the shock that registered on her face as he quickly added, "Just in case. I am not saying we will use it but it's good to always be prepared."

"Take it. It is no use arguing with them. Even I carry one all the time, it gives me a sense of security," Callie offered.

Over dinner, the boys updated Callie on the case, and she offered to help find anything further on Michael Emerson or about the girl he allegedly was having an affair with. Vanessa tried to decide how comfortable she was with this new person knowing all about her case. She surveyed the three people before her.

Callie's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she took in everything Joe was telling her and Frank scrolled through his phone, eyes narrowed in concentration. They trusted one another implicitly, she decided.

"If the audio clip is worth killing for, what do you think has happened to this girl? Wouldn't Michael be worried about her spilling the beans on their affair?" Callie asked, resting her hand on Frank's lap.

"That is why we need you to see if perhaps there were any employees that died under suspicious circumstances at Ophelia Pharmaceuticals recently," Frank said taking a forkful of noodles from Callie's plate.

"I'm on it. I'll get started right away. Unless you want me to come with you to search James' apartment? We can cover more ground that way." Callie offered.

"That is quite alright babe. I can manage," Frank said immediately. Vanessa noticed the brothers exchanging a look.

Callie had seen the exchange as well. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Frank said and winked at her.

Vanessa felt Joe's eyes on her; she had not eaten much and had practically said nothing the whole time. "Try to eat Vanessa. You need all the energy to help me find why James was in your apartment" Joe said kindly.

"Oh Vanessa, I am so sorry about everything. I can't even imagine what you're feeling right now. Trust me Frank and Joe will do everything in their power to help you out of this mess," Callie said as she clasped Vanessa's hands in hers.

"Thank you." Vanessa gave Callie a small smile.

"So Vanessa, are you seeing someone?" Callie suddenly asked. Vanessa felt the other girl was looking to lighten her mood by talking about things not related to the case.

"I used to, but umm…he turned out to be gay. He didn't know it at the time," Vanessa admitted. She blushed. "It was a little disappointing when we broke up".

"Hey," Joe said, "it was the right thing to do. It can't have been easy and there were probably times you were pretending to go on with a normal life. But neither of you could make each other happy no matter how hard you tried."

Vanessa and Callie both nodded.

"Right. And you can never be true to another person until you first learn to be true to yourself," Joe concluded.

"Wow. Gosh, that's a really cool thing to say." Vanessa said honestly.

Callie's mouth was open. She asked with astonishment, "Gee, such profound thoughts from you?"

Joe merely smiled.

Since they had to keep to their schedule, Callie offered to clear the table. Vanessa stood up to help Callie and noticed that Joe had a smug look on his face, while Frank was staring at him totally unimpressed.

"Give it here," Frank said.

Joe gave him a cocky grin and handed him a little ball of paper. Frank smoothed it out and found it to be the fortune out of his fortune cookie. Vanessa read the paper from over Frank's shoulder and shook her head.

 _Before you can be true to another,_ it said, _you must first learn to be true to yourself._


	5. Chapter 5

_**Give it up for Dragonmaster65 for her logical and excellent suggestions that push me to work harder and improve**_

a/n: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed or favourited my story. Special thanks to Paulina Ann, Evergreendreamweaver, sm2003495, Greywolf, Erin Jordan, Newtothis351, Max2013, Ritu, amblewat and Cherylann Rivers.

 **Chapter 5**

The sun had already set, and it was dark out by the time Joe parked his car two blocks away from Vanessa's apartment.

"They could have someone watching your apartment still, so let's go in quietly. Leave the lights off; we can use flashlights to look around. Grab whatever you need and then help me comb your apartment to see if anything strikes out of the ordinary," Joe advised.

He and Vanessa made their way into the apartment from the neighbor's backyard. Joe had been on enough stakeouts with his brother to recognize one outside Vanessa's apartment. Satisfied that no one was watching they crept inside.

Vanessa hesitated a bit before going inside. Joe realized that she probably still felt squeamish about being in the same apartment where she had discovered James' body the previous night.

"Don't think about it, just concentrate on the task at hand," Joe whispered.

It was a modest one bedroom apartment. It had a small cozy living room with a bookshelf to the side. Joe eyed the liquor cabinet with an amused look.

"I didn't peg you for a whiskey drinker," he commented.

"Aaah, because it's a man's drink?" Vanessa said sarcastically.

Joe laughed. "No, nothing like that. I just don't know any girls who drink hard liquor. My mom, aunt, and Callie all prefer wines," he explained.

"What about your girlfriend?"

Joe was silent for a moment. The question still caught him off guard even after all this time. "Nope, no girlfriends." His voice came out flat.

Vanessa slipped into her bedroom, though she continued to talk loud enough that he could hear her. Her flashlight bobbed around with her every movement. She called out, "A dashing handsome man like yourself doesn't have a girlfriend?" Joe could hear her unzipping a bag to stuff her clothes into.

"I did. She passed."

He heard her pause and her voice got quiet. "Sorry," she said.

Joe shrugged. This was exactly why he didn't bring up Iola. He didn't want anybody's pity. "Me too. It was a long time ago."

He didn't blame Vanessa for changing the subject as she did now. "I do like my whiskey," Vanessa said lightly. Joe finished his first, quick look around the apartment. It helped to have a better idea of what places to search first. He leaned against the bedroom door frame, watching her pack.

"Yeah, whiskey and I had a terrible fall out this morning," Joe said as he grimaced, remembering his hangover. Then he chuckled. "So you think I'm dashing?'"

Vanessa's blush was obvious even in the beam of the flashlights. It was a relief to hear her laugh after all that had happened to her and especially after the uncomfortable conversation. They crossed each other as Vanessa packed some more stuff into her suitcase and Joe looked around her bedroom. Their eyes met briefly and Joe was surprised with the warmth that crept inside of him. He wondered momentarily what it would be like to date someone like Vanessa - someone who thought he was dashing and liked the same drinks he did - then shook his head. He could almost imagine Frank reminding him on the dangers of even thinking about dating a client.

For the next forty-five minutes they went over the whole apartment in detail. Joe was now searching Vanessa's bedroom. He pulled out a drawer in her dresser and Vanessa came running.

"I have already looked here. There's nothing," she insisted.

"You probably did but I like to do my due diligence. Let me have a go, two pair of eyes and such," he said.

"Where did you read that? Another fortune cookie?" Vanessa snickered. Joe reddened and smiled.

Vanessa reluctantly moved out of the way, and Joe peered into the drawer and blushed. It contained Vanessa's underclothes. He probably would have been okay going through her intimate things if she wasn't standing right there, but she refused to walk away. In the end they were both red-faced and had nothing to show for.

Joe cleared his throat. Being thorough shouldn't leave a professional like himself so hot under the collar. After he closed the drawer they split up once again, still red.

Two hours later, Joe was ready to give up. From looking into the vents to floorboards, Joe had covered all inches looking for any signs of a microchip or flash drive.

"Hopefully, Frank is having better luck than us," Joe said, feeling dejected.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Frank could not breathe. His assailant had gripped him in a chokehold, and Frank was beginning to black out.

Half an hour ago, Frank Hardy parked his car and turned off his engine. He had been circling the block of Obler's house to check if anybody was watching over the house. He had carefully weighed his surroundings before entering the apartment. It had been a quiet and uneventful street. Soon after he was standing at the center of a studio apartment, which had been ransacked and then investigated and _finally_ cleared by the cops.

His phone had chimed and he discovered that his good friend Biff had sent him a video of Chet doing - of all things - the sensational floss dance. It was too alluring to not watch it and Frank took a minute to chuckle at Chet before he got started here – big mistake. In his peripheral vision, he saw a movement and then the lights went out. When Frank pivoted, he saw two dark figures advancing towards him.

"Crap!"

"Yeah, that sort of sums up what's left of your life," said the larger of the two before attacking with an overhand punch. Frank stepped out of range, but before he could bring his hands up to defend, the man drove his shoulder into Frank's chest, slamming him into the wall. There he started pummelling Frank's gut.

Adrenaline surging through him, Frank brought his knee forward. It connected with enough force to let him slip out of the man's grasp. His partner stepped in now, lunging at Frank. This time Frank was ready and he grabbed the stapler from the table to slam it into the man's head.

Barely steps away from his attackers, he was being grabbed once again by the larger of the two. The assailant had him by the throat, one beefy arm blocking Frank's airflow and the other restraining his hands behind his back. With each passing second, Frank felt his vision blurring. This would not be his end. Summoning all his strength, Frank heaved himself forward enough to wriggle one arm free.

It took three slams with his elbow to release himself fully from the hold, but Frank was determined. He surged forward to find a new weapon. Gritting his teeth, Frank ripped out the rod from the closet and brandished it as a quarterstaff bringing down the larger assailant.

The other man kicked Frank across the face. Momentarily dazed, he waited for a follow up strike. Instead, Frank could hear them talking about getting away. He watched through blurry vision as they ran out the door. Frank was half tempted to run after them but decided otherwise. Instead, he phoned his and Joe's old friend from the police. This wasn't something to just leave to their agency alone.

"So there were two guys that attacked you?" Con asked incredulously when he got to the scene.

There was a smoldering fire behind Frank's dark eyes. He was furious that he had let two men get the jump on him. "Yeah! I suppose they were keeping watch over the house or maybe wanted to look in for sure," he said.

Con wasn't about to let that go without further digging. He asked, "Why? What do they want? About time you came clean with us son."

Frank told Con everything from Vanessa to the audio clip. "So you see we have nothing. This whole case is dependent on that recording, and we don't know what is on it," he explained.

"Provided such a recording actually exists. I'll be honest with you son, it's not looking good for the Bender girl. All evidence points towards her: her kitchen knife, his blood on her, her apartment. And their colleagues suggest James harbored feelings for her. Feelings she might not have returned. It's only a matter of time before I have to make an arrest. You be careful," Con explained.

Burrowing his brows Frank said, "I was afraid it might come to that."

"Another angle could be that her and James were stealing information to sell to rival companies and an argument ensued leading to murder. She could be sending you on a wild goose chase," Con surmised.

Still reeling in pain after the beatings, Frank touched his abdomen lightly and sighed. "All that makes sense Con, but why did I get attacked? How do you answer that? That is one of the reasons I think Vanessa might be telling the truth, that and too much evidence against her. I don't buy it," he said.

Con whistled. "That girl is lucky she had the sense to come to you boys. Tell you what," he said, "I'll have my team come in tomorrow morning and tear this place apart again. If the recording, clip and what have you is here, we will find it. Go home, you need rest."

Scowling, Frank Hardy made his way to his car.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once back at the Hardy's home, Vanessa decided to start unpacking her stuff. Joe had been kind enough to offer her his room, and he had encouraged her to do whatever would make her comfortable while she was staying there. Her suitcase went against the wall, flipped open as a makeshift dresser. There wasn't much else that she could do with it.

Her purse had turned into a catch-all for everything small that she didn't want getting lost in the suitcase. Rather that searching through, it was easier to dump out the contents onto the side table next to the bed. Among her toothbrush and other valuables, something jumped out to her. While all other other jewelry had been put back away in boxes, here was a loose pendant necklace.

She recognized the pendant as belonging to James. She had seen it around his neck many times. Vanessa carefully opened it and gasped. _There was a miniature flashdrive inside._

James had probably slipped it into her bag when they met for coffee.

 _Bingo!_


	6. Chapter 6

**A huge thanks to my wonderful BETA Dragonmaster65 for her continuous support and encouragement in this endeavor of mine.**

 _A/N: Thank you so much for all your wonderful and generous reviews. Much appreciated!_

 **Chapter 6**

"Frank! What happened?" Joe froze as he spotted at his brother.

Frank had just walked into their apartment and had gone straight into the fridge to retrieve a frozen bag of peas. "Didn't find anything, and got beat up. I guess there were men watching Obler's place," he grunted, pressing the makeshift ice pack to his face.

"I'll call Det. Riley," Joe replied, furious.

Frank shook his head. "Don't bother. I already did. Besides they are long gone. What about you guys? Any luck?"

Joe felt a small shred of relief that his brother hadn't just staggered home. He held up their one bit of good luck for the evening. "We found the flashdrive. Frank, we should have gone together. What were we thinking splitting up like that," Joe said. He still felt guilty that they'd taken steps to protect Vanessa and then completely disregarded that Frank was just as vulnerable going alone to James' place.

"Don't worry about it. I'm here now. Besides, some good did come out of this evening after all," Frank said, gesturing at the flashdrive. He joined the pair on the couch and carefully booted his laptop with his one free hand. The other was still holding the peas to the worst of his injuries on his face.

"Shouldn't you go to bed?" Vanessa asked gingerly.

"This is nothing Van. We're used to some cuts and bruises," Frank said as he smiled ruefully. "I'm fine. Now give me the drive and let's hear it."

"Do you want me to drive you to Callie's?" Joe asked quietly.

"Nah, I'll drive myself in a bit. But first let's get cracking on this, shall we?" Frank was getting impatient.

Joe wanted to argue, to tell him that he was in no condition to drive and that he needed to rest, but he recognized the stubborn look on his brother's face. Frank was angry - very angry - and needed to keep busy to calm down. Sighing, he booted his own laptop and sat down. He and Vanessa had only been here for a few minutes before she'd come rushing in with the chip. They hadn't even had the chance to plug it in to see if it had the information they hoped.

As Frank slowly navigated his computer with one hand, Joe and Vanessa leaned forward in anticipation. The file directory popped up; there was one .mp3 saved to the device.

 _I can't hide it anymore. What we're doing is wrong._

It was a poor recording. After that one line everything else was a lot of static and vague noises. There was clearly a conversation ongoing, but only the woman's first remarks were audible. The rest had been drowned in the gamut of other noises.

They played the recording a few more times but could not make out anything further.

Joe frowned. "What do we do Frank? This isn't going to get us anywhere." He got up and walked towards the kitchen island and pounded his fist on it muttering under his breath.

"This is it? This is the recording that ruined my life? James Obler had to die over this? A shitty recording of a woman," Vanessa cried. "You can't even tell who she's talking to. James gave them a copy of this recording; they had to know there is nothing on it!" Vanessa was distraught.

 _I can't hide it anymore. What we're doing is wrong._

 _I can't hide it anymore. What we're doing is wrong._

They played the recording a few more times but got nothing out of it. Frank looked at Vanessa and asked, "Do you know this voice? Can you identify this woman?"

Vanessa shook her head. She only seemed more upset now. "No, it is a huge company. There are so many women, it would be hard for me to know who she is. She could even be an outsider," she replied, aghast.

Joe spoke up from the kitchen where he had been pacing like a caged animal. "If she is an outsider, people would notice her. She wouldn't make the threat in his office." He was beginning to feel annoyed that the evening had turned into a bust. He knew that Vanessa had gotten her hopes high with the discovery of the flashdrive, given that the entire case was dependent on the contents of it; now it felt like the evening had been a colossal waste of time.

They fell silent for several minutes with the only noise being the continuous typing. Frank was working feverishly on the recording. "I can continue to work on this recording and see if I can clear it up a bit. But for now, interference suggests it was made on an old P.C.S. cell network, making the recording at least two years old," he explained.

"I didn't know static had a vintage, " Joe said wryly.

Frank ignored Joe's comment and said, "If James was killed for being in possession of this flashdrive, it is possible the maker of this recording dealt a similar fate."

Joe went over to his laptop. "I had Callie send me a list of people who were employees of Ophelia Pharmaceuticals and died since the inception of the company from the obituaries. Even if I limit it to the last two years that is still a lot of people and everyone here died of natural causes." He was going over the list in his laptop.

"So another dead end," Vanessa piped in.

"I think it is time to call for a face to face meeting with Michael Emerson," Frank said darkly.

Joe's mind raced, he remembered a particular case where the wife of a wealthy socialite was cheating on her husband but was very careful and discreet with her affairs. It had taken the brothers a long time to get evidence on her infidelity. The recordings had been few and of very poor quality. "Say Frank, remember the Broacha case? Phil had given us a software that could cut off the background noises and clean the recording? What if we used that again?" he suggested.

Frank nodded slowly "It might be worth a try. I'll give Phil a call tomorrow morning."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Deep breaths, deep breaths. This is no different than what you do every day._

Callie was at the waiting area of Ophelia Pharmaceuticals. She had called and requested for an interview for her cover piece at Bayport times. Given that the company was on track to release a new drug in the market, this had served a perfect opportunity to bag an interview and tour the facility. While this was a typical day on the job, coming face to face with a potential killer had her worked up. She clenched and unclenched her fists trying to calm down.

She looked around at the plush office with large comfortable couches in the waiting room, sleek polished floors, art pieces arranged strategically giving a great vibe, and the view outside of downtown Bayport in the morning. Callie shuddered at the thought that some cold blooded killer worked in this very company. _A killer that had come close to hurting Frank last night_.

Frank had walked in to her apartment a little after 2am and startled her. His face was purple and his eyes dark and angry.

"Frank?" She had surged up from the bed, concern making her heart race to life. He gathered her in his arms, his anger falling away as he murmured quiet consolation to her.

"I'm okay, really am. It looks worse than it actually is," he said softly.

He was bruised but whole. Callie took a deep breath and shook her head. "Oh Honey! It isn't actually very different than what you look like everyday," she teased despite her worry.

"I always knew there was more than my looks for you to keep me around." Frank's dark mood softened and he smiled back. He joined her back on her bed.

Callie traced his face gently as he sat facing her on her bed. He took her hand in both of his, caressing it softly from the inside of her wrist to her fingertips. Locking his gaze with her honey brown eyes, he cupped her cheek in one hand as the other reached back to tug the ribbon holding her hair. Her hair fell free and fast around her shoulders, and he ran his fingers through it as he kissed her tenderly.

Callie pulled back after a minute. He wouldn't distract her so easily. "At least let me get you some pain killers, heat packs, and water. It will make me feel better," she insisted. Frank absolutely hated when his mom or Aunt Gertrude fussed over him and his brother, but he always indulged her when she worried over him. And this had been cause for concern.

Grateful that Frank had obliged she had left the room quickly. When she got back she found him fast asleep on her bed and his clothes rumpled on the floor. Rather than wake him she had placed everything on the side table, thrown his clothes into the laundry hamper, and pulled the covers on him, her gaze lingering just a bit at the purple bruise in his abdomen.

Coming back to the present, Callie turned to see an elderly gentleman approach the reception desk. She heard him give the name Mr. Steven Ranella. She had heard of him; he was a self-made millionaire and was always looking for good investments.

Brushing all other thoughts aside, she walked excitedly to meet Mr. Ranella, one of the top one percentage in the country. "Mr. Ranella, I am Callie Shaw. I am a reporter with Bayport times. It is an honour to meet you," she said as she offered him her hand.

"The honour is all mine Callie Shaw. And how do you even know me?" Steven shook her hand enthusiastically.

"I cover investments and real estate. I wouldn't be doing a good job if I didn't know you," Callie replied.

"I am impressed. So what brings you here today?" Steven wanted to know.

"I am covering a piece on the new drug, Bryonia. I am hoping to interview Mr. Emerson and Mr. Virtanen," she explained.

"Aaah! Get the inside scoop as you youngsters call it. Bayport times is lucky they have such talented and beautiful people working for them." Steven had a twinkle in his eyes.

Callie laughed easily and then offered her arm to the elderly gentleman to guide him toward the couch. "Are you thinking of investing here? Is that why you are here?" she asked. Seeing his amused expression Callie smiled. "Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Ranella."

Steven nodded slowly. "They say this new drug is the ultimate cure for migraines. Having had quite a few bad migraines in my lifetime, this seems like an investment that would be personal. I have already bought 8% of the company's shares," he replied.

"Eight percent? Wow! You don't do anything small do you?" Callie was impressed. Young people usually went in for aggressive investments as they have the time and chance to make up for their losses, but older investors rarely took this approach and played more conservatively. Steven was clearly not one of them.

"My investments have served me well my dear and I have a good feeling about this company. What do you think about sharing your findings, Ms. Shaw? One can never be too careful," Steven pressed.

This was the opening Callie was hoping for desperately since she got here and knew she had to grab it. "I would be thrilled to. Why don't you let me tag along with you in this meeting of yours?" she countered with a smile.

"I'd be delighted to my dear."


	7. Chapter 7

**All of my love to Dragonmaster65 who betas for me and puts up with all of my misuse of commas and run along sentences.**

Thank you to everyone who read, followed and favourited my story. A BIG thank you to all who left reviews.

Courtney (Greywolf) I have a surprise for you here- something we discussed the other day

 **Chapter 7**

"We cleared my whole schedule for a meeting with a shareholder?" Michael Emerson asked his manager of risk management, Jake Patridge. They were at his personal office going over his calendar.

"Guy isn't just a shareholder. He bought 82 million shares in the last forty eight hours. He now owns 8% of our stock," Jake responded.

"What is this about a reporter?" Emerson adjusted his tie. He was not happy about this sudden change in his schedule.

"Mr. Ranella insists she is with him. And we may want to wheel the old man in here for a minute to press the flesh," Jake suggested. He was always making suggestions that he thought would make a good impression for the board of directors. This would be a solid opportunity for coverage of the new, wealthy investor.

Emerson was wary of the exposure they had received in light of James Obler's murder and this seemed like a positive coverage so he nodded and then picked up his telephone to connect to the receptionist. "See them in personally," he ordered.

Within a few seconds the door to Michael Emerson's office opened and in walked the receptionist, Ranella, and the reporter.

"Mr. Ranella, Miss Shaw." Emerson shook hands with them. "Mike Emerson, pleasure to meet you," he greeted.

Steve pressed a small box onto Emerson's hands, "From my time in Switzerland, I have learned never to go to business meetings empty handed"

Upon opening the box, Emerson's eyes widened. It was an expensive watch. Ranella sure was throwing a lot of money around. Hopefully the man didn't think he'd be so easily swayed into whatever direction he was certain Ranella would now try to push the company in. "That is quite generous. Thank you," he said smoothly.

He turned his attention to the young woman now. "Thank you again for allowing me to sit in on your talks," Miss Shaw said.

"We haven't invited the press yet to talk about Bryonia. You would be the first one. I am a little impressed with your resourcefulness of coming in with one of our huge investors," Emerson admitted

"When you are in a position where competition is fierce, a little resourcefulness is rather rewarding," she said honestly.

He put the watch on his desk and then turned back to his visitors. "Before we get down to brass tacks, would you care for a tour of our facilities?"

Both of them nodded. Emerson led the way chatting with Steven and Jake. He paused when he realized that the reporter had drifted behind. "Where is Miss Shaw?" he asked.

Callie came up suddenly, settling her bag on her shoulder. "I have to tell you that the view from your office is just spectacular. How do you get any work done? I would be looking out all day," she rambled cheerfully.

Emerson resisted the urge to exchange a look with Jake. He said a little icily, "I hardly notice the view Ms. Shaw but I am glad you like it. Shall we?"

They walked into a corridor with a series of smaller labs where one could see the researchers in white coats working. Emerson opened a lab and ushered everyone inside. There were three people working there, one of whom immediately greeted their COO. The others looked up briefly before returning to their work.

"What we like to focus on is what people really need – Pain relief," Jake said.

"I can certainly attest to that," Steven replied.

"Your company reached a 20% market share last year in that sector, didn't you? And that's only going to rise with the launch of Bryonia," Miss Shaw spoke from Steven's side. She'd taken the older man's arm when they entered the lab.

"You have certainly done your homework on us Ms. Shaw. And yes, our new drug is going to be revolutionary. It has been FDA approved recently and we hope it will bring us global exposure," Emerson said as he beamed at them.

"That sounds like a higher return on my investment," Steven smiled. It was exactly the reaction Emerson had hoped to get from him.

Emerson continued speaking as they walked through the various sections of labs on the R&D level. "Most drug companies allot a higher percentage of their spending money on advertisement rather than research, not us. We allocate nearly 45% of our capital spending on research and development."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Callie nodded along. Frank always went on and on that research and development played a critical role in the innovation process. It was essential to a company that wants to better its future capabilities through new products, processes, and services.

As they climbed down the stairs after finishing the tour, a robust looking gentleman in his 60s was waiting for them. He extended one hand to Steven, saying "Mr. Ranella? A pleasure to meet you in person. I am Robert Virtanen. And who is this young lady?"

"This young lady is a reporter with Bayport times. And she is here to ensure that your company and my investment see the exposure we deserve," Steven answered. Callie smiled. Now _this_ was fortunate. She'd wanted to meet with both the COO and CEO, though her realistic expectations had been met by having the opportunity to listen to Emerson talk with Steven.

"This is an impressive empire you've built here, Sir." Callie said gesturing around the office building.

"Oh, it's Mike's domain now. Retirement isn't officially till next spring, but he makes all the big decisions," Robert said giving Mike an admiring glance. Then he laughed. "Don't tell anyone, though. I'd hate to join the senior citizen's club."

Everyone chuckled.

Just then Jake stepped in and whispered something in Emerson's ears. Emerson nodded.

"If you all will excuse me. Duty calls. It was great meeting you Mr. Ranella." He shook hands with Steven. "It was lovely meeting you Miss Shaw." He kissed her hand. Callie winced inwardly.

Robert continued, "Mike has done an incredible job. Not only in keeping our finances in order but overseeing a good amount of product research. Miss Shaw I am very interested to know your thoughts on what you saw here today and what you'll be telling your readers about us."

"Mr. Virtanen, I like what I see here." She then turned and held Steven's hand in hers. "I'm confident your money is in good hands."

Steven beamed at her. "Well then, let's discuss more at dinner tonight. And this lovely young lady has been gracious enough to accept my invitation to join us," he said with a nod towards Callie.

If Robert was bothered by having a reporter around further, he didn't show it. "I am afraid I will have to come by myself for dinner tonight. It was lovely meeting you both. My receptionist will see you out."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Frank checked his phone for the umpteenth time. He scowled and put it back down.

They were at their office. Frank had downloaded a few software packages to clear up the recording. The most recent one was up and running but the process was taking a lot of time.

"Would you stop it? She just left twenty minutes ago." Joe said irritably. "you have to trust her to get this done."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it. These people are dangerous. You and I, we can deal with this kind of thing. She doesn't have to immerse herself in it. What if they find out why she is there? What if they target her, hurt her?" Frank worried.

After the events of last night, Callie had suggested that she would go into the company office and do some investigating of her own. That did not sit well with Frank. He vehemently opposed the idea, but Callie went anyway. She'd texted that she was protected through her newfound ally in some investor she'd gravitated towards. Frank still worried. It was no secret that they were dating, after all.

"I don't like it anymore than you do. But Vanessa can't go back there. You can't. And I most definitely cannot go around asking questions without bringing suspicion on myself," Joe insisted.

Frank sighed.

Joe sat down noisily. "This is Callie we are talking about. When has she not immersed herself into our cases? She has been doing it since we were teenagers. What makes you think she is going to change now?"he said ruefully.

Frank smiled. "That is so true. She would get so mad when we cut her out of our cases."

Joe mockingly shuddered and said, "That girlfriend of yours is quite a handful. I've never fought with anyone as much as I have fought with her."

Frank groaned, "I remember it all too well. You guys fought and I had to pay the price. Either you sulked or she wouldn't talk to me. I am so glad some of us grew up."

Joe didn't rise to his brother's tease. "Is Con working on anything?"

"Just this morning a drug dealer was stabbed hard by his addict customer. The guy is now in custody for murder. Open and shut case," Frank relayed.

A faraway look came upon Joe. "So the drug dealer didn't just die. _He died hard_!"

Frank shot him a quizzical look. Ignoring Frank's look, Joe continued, "And because the weather today is good, I am going to say _it is a good day to die hard."_

"Seriously? Are you done?" Frank asked deadpanned. "If you are, Con also sent the autopsy report on James."

Joe snickered, "Fine fine. You were the one that loved Bruce Willis growing up and his Die Hard movie series."

"Whatever! Cause of death was two stab wounds to his gut and the murder weapon is the kitchen knife from Vanessa's apartment. Nothing we didn't already know," Frank said looking at the text Con just sent.

They were jolted out of their discussion by a sudden beep from Frank's computer. The brothers jumped and took their place at the table.

"I have managed to find a match on the woman's voice. I compared it against videos from social networking sites, corporate press. 268 possible matches, 6 who lived in New York, but only one who worked at Ophelia Pharmaceuticals," Frank said, ecstatic. "I present to you, Erin Miller."

Joe could see a video on the company's website where Erin was giving a small speech on what Ophelia Pharmaceuticals is about.

 _We create products that help and heal. Ophelia is a family. One I hope to be a part of for many years to come._

Joe whistled. "Erin Miller, Emerson's mistress, was an office romance. Nice work Frank," he said.

He went over to his laptop and opened the list that Callie had sent him earlier. "I had a hunch it won't be that easy to find Erin. Her name is among those employees who have died in the last two years. It says here she died six months ago of a brain aneurysm. She was 27 years old," Joe said.

Frank looked thoughtful, "So she wanted to go public with her affair and Emerson had her killed for it. Why not pay her off?"

"Emerson is heir to the entire Ophelia empire. If Robert Virtanen ever found out, Emerson would lose everything," Joe surmised. It fit the usual profile, unfortunately, with many infidelity cases that involved business and money.

"It might not even be hard for someone working at a pharmaceutical company to make murder look like natural causes," Frank mused. Then he froze, his insides going all cold.

"Callie is among them right now, all alone."


	8. Chapter 8

**Give it up for Dragonmaster65 - Thank you for putting up with my insanity and pushing me to constantly improve.**

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story – Much appreciated!

 **Chapter 8**

" _Flash drive's destroyed. Obler won't be a problem again."_

" _Great work."_

" _There is just one loose end. Vanessa Bender. And the guy who was poking around Obler's apartment last night. It was an unforeseen circumstance. He was well trained, my men couldn't handle him."_

" _It's not a loose end. It's the whole damn thing falling apart."_

" _I'll handle her."_

" _And the guy too."_

" _Nothing can connect us to this thing."_

Callie had planted a bug at Emerson's office when he was leading everyone out for a facility tour. Now everything that transpired in his office room could be heard by the brothers. Frank had run the voice print match against the voices they heard through the bug and was able to establish that one of them belonged to Mike Emerson.

"We were right. They are still after Vanessa and now you, too, Frank," Joe said. He took no joy in the realization.

Frank nodded. "At least we now know for sure that Emerson is involved. Who is he talking to I wonder?" he mused.

"Well, Callie will be here soon enough as will Vanessa, she has been knocking around the office all day and jumped at the notion of getting coffee for all of us. We can ask her if they sound familiar," Joe suggested. "Callie did good planting the bug."

"You gave it to her, didn't you?" Frank glared at his brother. Joe took it in stride; Callie had offered. He'd simply taken her up on it.

"Would you have let me if we told you?"Frank shook his head. "Not likely," he said gruffly.

The doorbell rang and Joe got up to open it. Callie and Vanessa were standing at the door.

"Look who I found," Callie nodded at Vanessa who was balancing four lattes.

"You did good Callie," he said with a wink.

"Underestimated me, did you?" Callie smirked.

"No way. We did hear some interesting conversation that corroborated what we were already thinking," Joe explained. He stepped out of the way to let Vanessa step in as well, taking a moment to check that no one else was in the hall to have seen the girls enter together.

"I also have a lot to tell you guys from my visit this morning. I may have snagged a dinner appointment with Mr. Virtanen tonight," Callie said, sounding quite pleased with herself.

"Whoa! Don't go making plans like that. Frank would have a heart attack. Speaking of which, you better go to your boyfriend before he wears a hole on the floor of my office."

Calie laughed and walked in. Joe looked at Vanessa who was smiling softly. Their eyes met for a moment too long and then they both looked away, embarrassed. Joe cleared his throat. It was only eye contact! He shouldn't have been so flustered.

"Do you know a Erin Miller?" Joe asked her as they walked inside. Focusing on the case would be best to help smooth over that moment.

Vanessa replied eagerly, a beat too quickly. Her cheeks were still tinged pink. "Sure," she said. "She worked in clinical trials. I didn't know her personally, but I had seen her around. She passed away rather suddenly. Why?"

"We have reason to believe she might have been Emerson's mistress. We matched her voice to the recording," Joe explained.

Vanessa stiffened, her eyes widened in shock and she stopped walking. "Are you saying what I think you are?" She was clearly worried now that Erin had died because of the recording.

Joe could see that this new discovery had scared Vanessa. He gently reached out and rubbed her shoulders. "Come on inside. It'll be okay."

Callie was sitting on Frank's lap and his arms were around her waist and yet the expression on both their faces was the same. They looked angry.

"Frank, I wasn't asking. I'm telling you of the dinner engagement. It will be in an upscale restaurant and I will be dining with Steven Ranella. I'll be okay," Callie insisted.

"These people murder and make it look like natural causes. I'm supposed to be okay with you going You already took a risk by going this morning. They could find the bug, know it was you, and hurt you," Frank snapped. "I can't have that happening. Sorry, you can't go."

Callie's large brown eyes flashed with anger but she didn't argue any got up from his lap and went and sat on the couch. Joe didn't want to step in - it wasn't his girlfriend - but Vanessa who had also witnessed the exchange went to sit next to Callie.

"He's right you know. You would be taking a big risk. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate what you did this morning but I can't live with the guilt if something happened to any of you," Vanessa said quietly.

Callie smiled at the other girl, the motion not quite reaching her eyes. She was clearly still upset. Joe moved to his desk and tried his best to pretend that he wasn't listening in. "I know he is right. It is just frustrating that's all. How are you holding up?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vanessa appreciated what Callie had offered to do and even more so how quickly she got over her anger to ask a woman she barely knew how she was feeling. She squeezed Callie's hand once in appreciation.

"I'm okay," she admitted. "Feeling a little hopeful under all the nerves. It feels like the more leads we find, the more there is to worry about. I wish this nightmare would get over."

She looked over her shoulder at the two young men working away on their computers. Frank had headphones on, but Vanessa's attention was more so on Joe. She turned back to Callie and edged closer to her. "The brothers, they work very well together," she said simply.

"Yes, they do. They complete each other. They're pretty good detectives and have been working with their dad since very young. Unfortunately, they have also seen their share of horrors," Callie said. Her gaze also turned to Joe before she turned to Vanessa and rubbed her shoulder. "This nightmare will get over, one way or the other," Callie said in a determined voice.

Vanessa nodded her head. "You trust them, then? You sound certain," she said.

"Implicitly," Callie replied. "After all, I don't let just anyone tell me I should skip out on a complimentary meal at a five star restaurant!" Though she was joking, there was still a sharpness to her teasing. Chuckling to herself, Callie shook her head.

"All joking aside, they do know what they're doing. And they're building a strong case for you. Just a few more days and I'm sure you'll be back at home living your life. Then you can finally get out of their apartment. That can't be any fun," Callie said.

Vanessa nodded slowly. A few days was such a short time and yet so long. Hopefully though Callie would be right and Vanessa would be able to get back to her normal, everyday, _boring_ life. One where she wouldn't get to see either Hardy boy.

Her eyes flicked once more to Joe sitting at his desk. Lowering her voice, Vanessa asked Callie, "Soooo Joe isn't seeing anyone?" She nervously twirled her finger in her hair.

Callie smiled. She had a twinkle in her eye now that only made Vanessa more uncomfortable to have asked in the first place. "At the moment, no. He has only been in one serious relationship." Callie's expression softened and Vanessa remembered how Joe had mentioned his last girlfriend had passed. After clearing her throat Callie continued, "I think he guards his heart now."

Vanessa let out a soft sigh and leaned back on the couch. She felt drawn to Joe Hardy; there was something about him that made her want to be there for him even if just as a friend. She glanced sideways at Callie and wondered if the other girl would be opposed to Vanessa starting something with Joe. Callie seemed protective of him.

Vanessa turned her attention back on Joe and felt her heart flutter. This time she knew it wasn't because of her nerves or out of fear of being caught sneaking around. She decided then that she was going to be a part of his life one way or the other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _I can't hide it anymore. What we're doing is wrong fizz fizz fizzzzz fizz fizzzzz fizz fizz fizzzzz fizz_

The static drowned the rest of the conversation. Frank and Joe sat peering at their laptop. Frank had taken off his headphones to play the recording once more for the group. "Phil sent me a new software that I can use to try and clean up this recording. Fill in the blanks," he explained.

Callie piped in, "I think Erin recorded this in Emerson's office, listen. I can almost hear the fountain that's there."

 _What we're doing is wrong fizz fizz fizzzzz fizz fizzzzz fizz fizz fizzzzz fizz_

"So?" Joe asked quizzically. "She recorded the conversation on her cell phone to blackmail him."

Frank shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Using the bug Callie planted, I was able to capture some baseline of the room's noise. Now I can strip it back out of the original recording," he said.

"Listen to this version. This is much clearer."

 _I can't hide it anymore. What we're doing is wrong. I wanna tell someone. This keeps me up at night, knowing what our drug has done._

A man's voice accompanied Erin now.

 _You need to think very carefully…..fizz fizz fizzzzz fizz fizzzzz_

The tension in the room snapped and even Frank let out a cry of surprise. Vanessa cupped her hand over her mouth to stifle the gasp that came over her. All around the office were wide eyes and open mouths.

"I wanna tell someone. This keeps me up at night, knowing what our drug has done _._ " Joe repeated.

"I still have to clean up the last part of the recording, but there's enough here that you can tell that Erin was not having an affair with Emerson," Frank surmised.

"She was threatening to blow the whistle on him," Joe finished his thought.

"OMG!" Vanessa stood up. "The drug is going to be launched in two days. What are they trying to hide?"


	9. Chapter 9

**All of my love to Dragonmaster65 who betas for me and puts up with all of my misuse of commas and run along sentences.**

Thank you to everyone who read, followed and favourited my story. A BIG thank you to all who left reviews.

 **Chapter 9**

"Is your car running okay?"

Joe was riding with Vanessa to Ophelia pharmaceuticals, and he frowned and leaned over from the passenger seat, trying to peer past her hands and see the gauges.

"Why?" she asked, instantly panicked. "Do you hear a funny noise? Do you smell antifreeze or burning or something?"

"No, it's just that we're barely moving."

She frowned over at him. "It's going as fast as I always go," Vanessa said flatly.

He raised his eyebrows. "You mean you're driving like this on purpose?"

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm doing almost the speed limit, you know."

Joe sat back in his seat and shook his head. Then, as though he was _trying_ to drive her ire higher, he commented, "Huh. You drive like a little old lady."

"How do you think they get to _be_ little old ladies?"

"Cute. Well, I'm gonna be a little old man by the time we get anywhere."

She shot him a sly, sideways glance. "So you're saying that you're a little man?"

"Oh, no!" He raised his hand and wagged a finger at her as she cackled at him. "You did not even go there."

Once they had established that Erin was not an office romance but instead a whistleblower, it was important to find out what she was going to blow the whistle on. Frank and Joe had decided to sneak into the company and look around. Vanessa had insisted that she knew the way around the office and could get them into the server rooms to look for files on clinical trials Erin had worked on. In the end Frank stayed back at the office so Joe and Vanessa could keep a lower profile.

It seemed that Joe was intent on shifting the topic away from their banter now that he was on the losing side. "I still think that you shouldn't have come. They haven't stopped looking for you," Joe said honestly.

"I know they are. But this is personal now. I knew Erin a little bit. She was friendly and naive. I am doing this for her, for Obler, and myself," Vanessa replied. She gripped the steering wheel tightly. There were many variables in their current situation: they could get caught, not find the evidence they set out to find, or any other of a thousand other worries. Her heart was racing, but she was glad that Joe was by her side.

"Just so you know, we are breaking and entering."

"Fun! I have never done anything illegal in my life." She chuckled.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hi Frank."

"Hey Con. Need a favour from you," Frank said on the phone.

"I am going to regret it, am I not?"Frank could almost see Con shaking his head.

"No you won't. There's going to be a break in at Ophelia pharmaceutical tonight. I need you to make sure that the police don't respond," Frank offered.

"A break in? That is a serious offence. I can't do that." Con's voice was a bit stressed.

"At least delay the response. Please, we just need a little information. We are very close to cracking the case," Frank pled. "It's bigger than just Vanessa Bender. I swear."

Static crackled over the phone line as Con considered Frank's request. It was a risk to even ask in the first place. But Frank trusted Con. And he hoped that after all this time that the detective trusted them as well. "Okay, I will see what I can do. No promises," Con finally grunted.

"Thanks Con. You're the best." Frank grinned.

Frank and Callie stayed back at the office to find out everything they could on all the products Ophelia had rolled out in the last four years. They wanted to see anything they could find on the drug Erin was talking about.

"All these drugs are FDA approved Frank. The ones which don't have approval yet have been doing very well in clinical trials. And those trials are only through top hospitals - Yale, Harvard, and the like. Nothing seems to be below board, at least appearance-wise," Callie said. She was going through the Ophelia websites and researching any drugs that were so much as mentioned, even the ones in pre-trial stages, just to be thorough.

"Erin definitely stumbled upon something. Say, didn't you tell me that they weren't able to get a drug FDA approved two years ago. You guys shelved your article but you still had it in archives, yeah?" Frank asked remembering his conversation with Callie the day before.

Callie nodded, her eyes brightening. "I bet it was the same drug, Bryonia." She pulled up the old report from the archives before turning to him. She confirmed, "It was known as Lysinum back then, but yes it too was for migraines."

"Sounds like a possible lead. Better than these dead ends for now," Frank said with a nod. He pulled open a new tab to start another round of searches for Lysinum.

After a while, Frank rubbed his eyes; he had been staring at his laptop way too long. He turned to look at Callie. She was poring over her own laptop, her tongue tracing her lips - a habit when she was deep in concentration. The lead was good, he felt it in his bones. They were just too tired to put the pieces together right now.

He walked over to her and gave her his hand. "Come on, let's take a short break before we go blind," Frank murmured.

Callie smiled and said, "Yeah, I am beginning to get cross eyed." She took his hand and they walked over to the couch. Frank gathered her in his arms as they sat down.

"I am sorry about earlier. You really did a great job planting that bug, but I can't bring myself to let you be in a position where you might get hurt," he said softly into her hair. She stiffened in his grip.

"Can we not talk about it please? It never ends well." Callie pushed away from him and stood up. "I still think I should keep the dinner date," she said indignantly.

This too was a familiar conversation between them. Callie always wanted to help out the brothers with their cases and Frank's reluctance to put her in harm's way always escalated into a fight between them.

"Don't be angry, Callie. Us talking doesn't need to end badly." Frank slipped his arms around her waist and rocked her gently side to side. She still had a sour pout to her lips. "I would feel better if you sit this one out, especially since I won't be with you. I will even sing for you," he said lightly.

"I can take care of myself. You don't have to protect me during dinner in a public place," Callie retorted.

"It's in public, but these are… are dangerous people," Frank argued weakly. He wasn't getting to her and he knew it. Clearing his throat, Frank tried again. "I know that you can handle dinner and that you'd keep yourself safe. But these people somehow made a young woman die from a brain aneurysm. Maybe it was a lie and cover up or maybe it was poison! This is a drug company we're talking about. But I know I'd never forgive myself if something like that happened to you.

"Just humor me babe, this one time," Frank pled. Callie tipped her head but didn't say yes. "When I see your face... There is not a thing that I would change... Cause you're amazing... just the way you are," Frank croaked her favourite song until a smile crept up the sides of her rosebud lips.

"Alright, but just this once." She returned to sit with him on the couch cuddled close to him. When her head tipped back on his chest, he knew that his worries had gotten through to her.

She surprised him by asking, "What do you think about Joe and Vanessa?"

"What about them?" Frank had sensed a growing friendship between his brother and Vanessa but had chosen to ignore it for the moment. Joe deserved to have some privacy.

"I'm getting this vibe between them," Callie said mischievously.

Frank tipped his head to eye her. She had a look to her that said she knew more than she was letting on. "So they're becoming friends?" he asked.

"I am thinking, maybe more than friends," Callie was excited now.

"Best friends?" Frank feigned ignorance.

"Getting warmer - you wanna try again?" Callie pestered.

"I got it! Mega best friends," Frank offered.

"That's it. We can't be seen together again. We will have to keep our relationship under wraps; people think I am dating a genius," Callie specified.

Frank tightened his grip around her waist. "Is that how it's going to be? I am your dirty little secret?"

"I am sorry if I am coming on too strong, but the truth has set me free," Callie joked.

Frank guffawed at that. Then he returned to her original question. "I have seen the closeness brewing between them, but Joe is still fragile. Let him take his time, there is no rush."

"Always looking out for him," Callie said with a laugh.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vanessa and Joe stealthily made their way across the grounds towards the main lobby. A solitary guard was patrolling it.

"Hold this." Joe handed his flashlight to Vanessa and used a paperclip on an unnoticeable divot on the keypad of the building. There were often simple workarounds to the cheap keypads that corporations bought to save a buck. _Technology: 0; Joe Hardy: 1_. "So these people are trying to kill you and your plan is to break into their office."

"I prefer the direct approach." Vanessa smiled.

Joe fidgeted for a few seconds longer and was rewarded with the keypad popping off. A quick prod of a manual switch and the main door clicked open.

Once inside, they quickly ran up the stairs. The server room was located on the third floor. They kept a weather eye out, ducking out of sight when the guards patrolled through their path to the server room.

Joe whipped out his paperclip again to unlock server room door. Joe was very skilled at breaking and entering among other things.

"You're probably one of those guys that can get out of anything with a paperclip. Where did you learn that from?" Vanessa cast an admiring glance at Joe.

Joe smiled lazily. "It is a long story."

Once the door was open, they walked in. Joe pulled up a chair in front of the the first access terminal they came across and turned on the monitor. There wasn't even a password keeping anyone out. It made some sense, since the servers were behind locked doors, and Joe was grateful for the lucky break. He called Frank from his mobile.

" _Joe_?"

"Okay Frank, I am in. What am I looking for?"

"Check anything you have on Erin Miller. What was she working on? Anything?" Frank's voice rang out from the phone.

With some help from Vanessa to find the right drives, Joe pulled up the employee records. "They deleted Erin Miller's email and browser history months ago," he said with a sigh.

"Nothing is ever really deleted, Joe. Mind if I give it a try?" Vanessa whispered.

Joe nodded. Vanessa's background was in IT and she knew a lot about computers. She'd also worked at Ophelia for two and a half years, so she'd be able to move around its system faster than Joe was now. Vanessa took the now vacated seat with Joe looking over her shoulder.

A few clicks and keystrokes later and Vanessa had the old data pulled up. "She was transferred out of her project five months before she was killed. Her badge access was revoked from every lab in the facility."

It took a few nerve-wrecking minutes but Vanessa was able to put the pieces together and pull up everything Erin had pulled up until her access had been revoked.

"There." She pointed at the screen. "She accessed this file a dozen times in the days before she was killed," Vanessa said. She opened the file.

"Looks like a clinical trial for the new drug Bryonia," Joe said as he squinted at the computer.

"See here, it is FDA approved, but it has been altered. There are two files with the same name, but the older one is slightly larger."

Vanessa compared the two files. "Six patients are missing from the file Ophelia submitted to the FDA."

Joe brought his phone back up to his ear, saying, "Frank, I'm sending you a picture of six names. See what you can find on them."

While Frank checked on the names, Joe and Vanessa opened up some more files on Bryonia. Turned out Frank's hunch had been correct. It was the same drug that had been rejected from FDA two years prior. Ophelia had simply submitted a report with the doctored clinical trial data to get it approved. There was no difference to the drug's formula whatsoever.

"What? Are you sure?" Joe's voice was laced with shock. "Okay, will do. Bye."

Joe turned to Vanessa who was looking at him searchingly.

"Frank said every one of those six people are dead. Every person on that list died of heart failure within a year of participating in the clinical trial."

"Emerson must have dropped them from the study and paid people to hide it," Vanessa whispered.

Joe scowled. "They want to capture the market with a _killer_ drug."


	10. Chapter 10

**A huge thanks to my wonderful BETA Dragonstar65 for her continuous support and encouragement in this endeavor of mine.**

 _A/N: Thank you so much for all your wonderful and generous reviews. Much appreciated!_

 **Chapter 10**

 _I told you I'll handle it. I've got them both_

 _I'm on my way._

After copying the altered and original reports into their flashdrive, Joe and Vanessa were making their way out of the server room when suddenly Jake Patridge walked up to them, gun in hand. So much for keeping a low profile.

Joe and Vanessa found themselves deep in the bowels of Ophelia Pharmaceuticals with their hands tied behind themselves as they sat. Their phones and flash drive had been confiscated. Joe only hoped that Frank and Con Riley would notice their absence and come soon to their rescue. After securing them, Jake had left them alone once more.

"Hey, you doing okay?" Joe whispered.

Vanessa looked like she was going to cry. Their only solid, prosecutable evidence was in the hands of the enemy. Frank wouldn't be able to do much with a picture Joe sent him earlier. All was lost.

"I'm scared," she admitted. "We're going to be killed, and we didn't even get the evidence out and public."

"Nobody is going to die today Vanessa," Joe said fiercely. He shuffled his chair as close to hers as he could, leaning against his bounds. "We're going to get out of this. I swear to you." Between his words and just being close to him, Vanessa trusted that Joe in fact would get them out of this bind.

"You're not even phased by a man with a gun? Who left to go confer with his boss on what he should do to get rid of us? You might consider a new line of work," Vanessa tried to joke. It was easier than thinking about what might happen when Jake came back with his pistol.

Joe chuckled. "My brother has a mantra. Either know what to say or have something to trade."

"Well I doubt they want to listen to anything we have to say. So what are you going to trade now?" Vanessa asked.

Just then the door to their prison opened and in walked Jake Patridge, Mike Emerson, and another man.

"So we're finally face to face Ms. Bender. You were a hard person to find." Emerson smirked.

Vanessa glared at the man. "Why did you kill James? What was he doing at my apartment?" she demanded.

"That was a stroke of genius my dear. The plan was to kill both of you, but when James broke into your apartment we saw it as an opportunity to make it look like a lovers' quarrel. It was hardly a secret that he had asked you out multiple times," Emerson gloated.

"Well, you can't just shoot me here. They will know someone else was behind all of this," Vanessa retorted.

"Don't worry about what will or won't happen after you're out of the way. By the time we're finished here the police will find more evidence incriminating you for the murder of James and your friend here," Emerson smiled.

The man Vanessa didn't recognize spoke up. "This is not the guy we saw at the apartment,"he said. He must have been one of the men who had attacked Frank, she realized.

Emerson finally considered Joe, turning to regard him carefully. "Who are you, then?" Emerson demanded.

"I am just the guy that's going to bring down your empire with you behind bars," Joe said with a smirk.

Jake lunged at Joe and punched him in the face.

"You're making a mistake!" Vanessa shrieked.

"I'm not the one handcuffed to a chair," Emerson sneered. Still, now that he'd noticed Joe, he hadn't turned away. "What do you think you know, son?" Emerson had turned from gloating to cool, careful self control.

"Found that Bryonia report. The first one, not the big ol' fake you sent to the FDA. Hope you don't mind. I emailed a copy to a friend so I could read it more thoroughly," Joe spat.

Vanessa knew of course that Joe was bluffing. They had saved the report onto the flashdrive that Jake had taken from them, but they needed to bluff in order to stall and hope that Frank would save them soon.

Jake punched him again.

"Stop," bellowed Emerson. He was off-balance now. "Who did you email it to? Was it your partner, the man at Obler's apartment?"

Joe started laughing. "Hurt me all you want. If _anything_ happens to either of us, that report goes public," Joe threatened. "Everyone will know your new drug kills."

Jake spoke up, "Tell you what, the first one to give up that report gets to live."

Vanessa stared at Joe. He was still relatively uninvolved; she was already under suspicion for James' death. He could throw her under the bus. In the dark of the basement, she couldn't read beyond his tense expression. But she could feel his hand wriggling still against the binds to grasp at hers. Joe kept quiet. So did Vanessa.

" _Where is it now_?!"Emerson yelled.

Joe looked at Vanessa and nodded. She caught his meaning and gave him a small nod of her own before looking at Emerson.

"I… I will take you to him. He has the report. I'll bring you right to it,"Vanessa said.

Emerson smiled. "Atta girl. Now you're seeing sense. Untie her."

Vanessa rubbed her wrists as she was untied, looked over at Joe and said, "It was a nice advice you gave. Always have something to trade." She bent down and kissed him gently on the lips as she slipped a paperclip into his hands.

"Alright enough! Let's go." Emerson's voice boomed.

Vanessa walked away with Emerson and the two men leaving Joe with Jake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"People died from taking that drug?" Callie asked, incredulous.

Frank nodded grimly. "It's six people out of two hundred. That's a 3% mortality rate. If a million people take that drug, thirty thousand can die." He always had a knack for numbers.

"Frank, what can we do? We can't let the drug be released into the market."

"We won't. As soon as Joe comes back with the files we will go to Con with it and this recording. We're close Callie. I can feel it."

Callie came and hugged him. Frank wrapped his arms around her. They held each other for a moment. Unable to wait any longer, Frank pulled out his phone and pressed Joe's number. They'd been expecting to hear from him one he and Vanessa got out of the building. After a few tries, he started to get worried.

"Hello?"

"Con! I can't reach Joe. Did you ever respond to the breakin at Ophelia?" Frank asked, his voice laced with worry.

"Frank, there was nothing to respond to. No alarms were triggered," Con said.

"Oh. Okay, thanks."

"Is everything alright?" Con asked.

Frank hemmed over whether or not to divulge just how far into their break-in Joe had gotten. It was still a crime. "Joe is not answering and he should have been back by now. I wondered if maybe you got called in for a break in and had him?" Frank offered.

"Frank, I am afraid I can't barge in there asking about Joe," Con relayed.

"I know Con," Frank sighed. "Just keep a lookout in case you do hear anything. Thanks." Frank disconnected the call and ran his hand through his hair.

Frank looked at Callie who was too worried to say anything.

"I am going to go look for them." Frank's brows were furrowed.

"Where will you go?" she asked quietly.

"Where else? To Ophelia. But I'm bringing in Robert Virtanen. About time he knew what's happening with his successor. He will know how to get a hold of Emerson and that should lead me to Joe if he has been taken."

"Be careful," Callie said softly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After Frank had left, Callie pulled out her own cell phone. It wouldn't hurt to cover a few more bases, especially with Joe and Vanessa missing. Additionally, something had been nagging at her since morning, and she wanted to check that out.

"Hi, this is Callie Shaw from Bayport times. Yes, I'll hold, he is expecting my call."

The conversation went on for a while. She hadn't expected it to be easy, but Callie knew that her questions needed answers. After Callie had finished her call she went over to the couch and curled up deep in her thoughts about the case and Joe and Vanessa's safety. She felt conflicted over what she had just done and knew Frank wouldn't approve but it had to be done. A buzzing from Frank's computer caught her attention. She got up and went over to the computer desk. It read - _File transmission complete_.

She clicked on it and the ever familiar recording played once more. It had been cleaned and enhanced even further.

 _Erin: I can't hide it anymore. What we're doing is wrong. I wanna tell someone. This keeps me up at night, knowing what our drug has done._

 _Emerson: You need to think very carefully about what you are saying_

 _Erin: You're leaving me with no choice. I'm gonna go to Virtanen._

 _Emerson: You wanna tell the Boss? Go ahead._

 _Robert Virtanen: You think anything happens in my company without me knowing it, young lady? How stupid do you think I am?_

Callie froze, too shocked at what she had just heard. Frank had just left to go to Virtanen. Her hands shaking, she frantically called Frank. It didn't even ring, going straight to voicemail. His easygoing recording asking to leave her name and number only made her worry more.

He was probably trying Joe's cellphone, Callie insisted to herself. Clearing her throat, she left him a warning.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Frank waited impatiently outside the company premises. Finding Vanessa's car alone and empty hadn't settled his nerves. He had called Virtanen while on the drive over and asked to meet him saying it was a matter of life and death. Frank looked up. It was a cloudless night making the street darker than usual - an appropriate setting with his current mood. He tried his brother's phone once more to no avail.

No sooner had he disconnected did Frank's phone buzz. His heart leapt until he saw it was a voicemail from Callie not a call back from Joe. Just as he put his ear to his phone, a car stopped in front of him. The driver got out and opened the back door. Robert Virtanen ushered him to get in.

He reached the car and was about to get in when he stiffened. Just as he'd been about to disconnect the call to his voicemail Frank heard Callie warning him that Virtanen wasn't as unaware as they'd thought. Before he could react however the unmistakable sound of a revolver being cocked by a man in the front seat let him know just how badly they had miscalculated. He got in the car quietly.

"It was you all along," Frank whispered.

"Your brother was very careful to not give away your whereabouts. And yet, here we are." Rob smiled.

"Where are Joe and Vanessa? Let them go," Frank pleaded.

"Your brother's licence said Joe Hardy; that makes you Frank Hardy. I know who you guys are. I'm afraid nobody is going anywhere."

Frank's heart raced. He looked out; they were driving through a tunnel. He recognized the second man in the front seat who was turned and had the revolver aimed at him. It was the big guy who had attacked Frank at Obler's apartment the night before. Escape was fruitless. So Frank decided to ask questions.

"Why did you kill James Obler in Vanessa's apartment?"

Rob's expression hardened. "We had men waiting at both their apartments. But James chose to pay Miss Bender a visit. It only made sense to kill him and frame her for his murder. It was better than having to explain the natural death of two perfectly healthy individuals on the same night."

"But you underestimated her. The cops didn't arrest her. She got away. She came to us," Frank surmised.

"Yes, she did. We couldn't let her or you ruin everything for us," Rob said darkly.

"What about Erin?"

"She knew what we were doing but couldn't go along with it in good faith. She had to be silenced," Rob said simply.

The car slowed down. Frank looked out to see an abandoned building. He was shoved roughly out from the car and quickly inside. He was handcuffed to the radiator.

Rob loomed over him, "Your brother is dead by now and soon the girl will be as well."

Frank's stomach dropped out from under him and his blood ran cold. "No." He refused to believe this yellow bellied coward's claims.

"Don't fret! You will join them shortly. Mr. Hardy you should have been reasonable. Every new drug has side effects, that's why we have disclaimers and insurance. What has this moral crusade brought you? Your death?"

Frank's jaw was set as his eyes darted from Rob to his men who were standing guard near the door.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have a dinner date with a very wealthy investor and a beautiful reporter. I have a drug to launch after all," Rob continued to talk.

"Enjoy your last few minutes. Adam here will keep you company," he finished. With that, Robert Virtanen walked out the door followed by his driver.


	11. Chapter 11

**Give it up for Dragonmaster65 - Thank you for putting up with my insanity and pushing me to constantly improve.**

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story – Much appreciated!

 **Chapter 11**

The solitary moon on the cloudless night seemed to be mocking her. It was reminding her she too was alone in this solemn situation. Vanessa rubbed her sweaty palms against her sides. The plan had been simple: call Frank and subtly let him know that she and Joe were in trouble. He would come with the cops and all would be over. She had tried Frank's phone numerous times but he never answered.

They sat in Emerson's car while she fiddled with her fingers trying to figure out what her next steps would be. As if in answer to the question her mind has been fighting hard to find, her phone rang. It was Callie.

"Hi, yes. We are at the naval yard next to Ophelia," Vanessa quickly spoke into the phone before Emerson grabbed it from her and disconnected it.

"Jail rules. No more phones," he said.

They sat in silence for a long time. Finally an impatient Emerson turned to Vanessa. "What the hell are we doing here?" he spat.

"You want your report, right? He's coming." Vanessa gestured ambiguously.

A dark shadow passed over Emerson's face. "No, I don't think so. You know what I think? I don't think you emailed that report to anybody at all. In fact it's been right here in the flash drive all along. Jake will have destroyed it by now," Emerson said.

Vanessa could not breathe and was beginning to shiver slightly as she looked at Emerson and his men in the car. Just then Emerson's phone rang and she turned deathly pale as she saw him smile widely at whatever the caller said to him.

"Nobody is coming because we have a certain Frank Hardy in our custody and my man recognized him from the other night. Unfortunately for you my dear, you are going to have to take this to your grave. Let's get out of here before whoever she spoke on the phone to arrives." Emerson ordered.

No sooner had they backed up the car when the window on Emerson's side shattered into pieces. An arm stretched through the shattered pane, and the mystery man slammed a taser to Emerson's chest. When Emerson's men from the front of the car jumped out, Vanessa waited for gunfire to begin.

That's when she realized the face coming through the window now was Joe's and that the air around them now was filled with red and blue lights.

"That's gonna leave a migraine, huh? Heard they got a pill for that now," Joe seethed at the barely conscious Emerson.

ooOOOoo

" _You know you really shouldn't be surprised by what Vanessa did. Pretty girls always look out for themselves. You can never trust them to have your back," Jake said once Vanessa left with Emerson to go get the file._

 _Joe kept quiet and watched him draw something into a syringe._

" _Potassium chloride?" Joe asked._

 _Jake smiled callously. He was enjoying this, the sick bastard. "Government uses it for lethal injections. Stops a heart in minutes. Quite humanely, really."_

 _He tapped the syringe to remove the air - unnecessary when the whole point was to kill Joe anyways - then walked over to where Joe sat. Jake shoved Joe's head aside to expose his neck."Don't worry; it will be a matter of seconds," he sneered._

" _Lucky you," Joe replied_

" _Lucky me?" Jake looked amused as he brought the syringe's tip to Joe's neck._

 _Joe swiftly grabbed his hand and pushed Jake against the racks of medicines behind them. Momentarily stunned, Jake was easy to overpower. . Joe was able to slam his opponent's head against the wall repeatedly._

 _Once Jake was dazed and confused, Joe smartly handcuffed him to the same chair he was held hostage merely minutes ago._

" _Never underestimate a woman, never," he said waving the paperclip in front of him. Joe dug into Jake's pockets and pulled out his phone and the flash drive before running out to find Vanessa._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Frank's adversary from last night came forward and cracked his knuckles. "You got lucky last night, but tonight I'm going to have the satisfaction of choking the life off of you. Enjoy the last ten minutes of your life, Frank Hardy."

 _ **Ten minutes**_

"We weren't expecting to see anyone last night so imagine our surprise to find you there. I would have loved to finish you off then, but my partner got scared and ruined the fun." The big guy that had attacked Frank the previous night was cracking his knuckles with glee, "Tonight, however, I will reunite you with your brother."

Frank didn't say anything. He was busy thinking about Joe.

"What do you have to say about this?" Adam taunted him.

Looking up with cold and expressionless eyes, Frank replied, "Oh, I'm-I'm sorry, I was waiting for a question. It was all monologue there for a while, so I kind of tuned out."

Adam's lip curled into a snarl. He lunged towards Frank but when his phone rang he stepped aside to take the call.

Quickly, Frank kicked his shoes off and slid his right shoe toward his arms. He reached into the sole of his shoes with his fingers and pulled out a pin. Then he started working on unlocking his handcuffs with it.

The minute hand on his wrist watch moved like oil, passing the big numbers, swallowing time along with it. Frank worked feverishly to free his hands. The heat from the radiator was causing him to perspire profusely.

 _ **Eight Minutes**_

 _Tick. Tick. Tick._ He could hear the watch and this ticking which he was oblivious of before, made his mind numb. Sooner or later his head was going to explode, but there was no time for such worthless thoughts. He had to get free. He twisted to get a look at the handcuffs, the metal glinting against the warehouse light. _Almost. Adam's call couldn't last forever._

 _ **Seven Minutes**_

Moving as fast as he could, Frank did his best to keep focussed as his eyes started to burn from the sweat trickling down his forehead. He closed his eyes as he kept moving the lock in his hands on the handcuffs. He thought of Joe, praying that he was alive and somehow escaped.

 _ **Six Minutes**_

Adam had finished his call and turned to see Frank working on getting free. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He took three strides towards Frank just as the latter stood up and threw down the handcuffs.

Frank balled his fistswhile looking around to see if there were any sharp objects that could help him. He didn't see any and his focus remained solely on the large man towering four inches over him.

 _ **Five Minutes**_

As Adam charged at him, Frank smoothly stepped out of the way. His fist connected with the bridge of Adam's nose and blood splattered all over the ground of the warehouse.

Howling in pain, Adam raged once more towards Frank and hit him squarely in the chest. Frank didn't have time to dodge further, and he was tasting blood as Adam landed a painful blow of his own on his mouth. Adam's fingers curled into Frank's hair and lifted him painfully till he was dangling on the tips of his toes.

"I was hoping you would do something stupid like this," bellowed Adam. Now the blows he rained on Frank's ribs hurt like hell.

 _ **Four Minutes**_

Pain rippled across Frank's chest, and he doubled over and spit out blood. His injuries from last night were only getting worse.

Adam started kicking Frank in the guts while he lay curled on the floor. Having Frank exactly where he wanted, he took a step back to wipe his bloody nose.

 _ **Three Minutes**_

Frank slowly stood straight, eyes bulging with rage, and stared at his opponent right in his shifty little eyes.

"You...filthy…" Frank took a lurching step with each word. On the third, he swung: "Rat!"

The blow felt too sluggish. Frank knew the second he launched it. The spry, smirking goon ducked under it. Before Frank could even register the dodge, however, another body shot, this one to his ribs, sent fresh ripples of pain through his torso. He didn't fall—he made absolutely sure he did not fall—but it was a lot closer than he'd have liked.

 _ **Two Minutes**_

Adam went in for another attack. Frank shoved him off. Seeing Adam scoot back so far against the weight of it gave him a second wind. He covered the distance between them. Threw three more punches that did land. Adam fell down.

Then, he stood up again.

It was unreal. Between the pain in his guts and ribs and the general confusion, the sight of Adam on his feet after the patented Frank left-right-left was not something he wanted to see.

 _ **One Minute**_

Frank blocked Adam's blow and responded with an uppercut. Then he brought his fist back and punched again. The first punch grazed Adam's chin. The second doubled him over and expelled the last bit of choked air from his beer-weighted belly.

Breathing heavily, Frank picked up the discarded handcuffs and secured Adam's wrist. He then reached into Adam's pocket and pulled out his phone to call Con.

 _ **Two Seconds**_

Barely taking two steps outside the warehouse, Frank fell into a heap, gasping for breath. As he lay there in the dark night, a wash of emotion came over him and he started to laugh.


	12. Chapter 12

**A huge thanks to my wonderful BETA Dragonmaster65 for her continuous support and encouragement in this endeavor of mine.**

 _A/N: Thank you so much for all your wonderful and generous reviews. Much appreciated! There is one more chapter after this._

 **Chapter 12**

She found herself in a large lobby. The floors were made of colored tiles arranged in jagged patterns, and the walls were made of glass, revealing additional views of the city. A frosted glass partition separated the lobby from a private office. Silk banners hung from the ceiling. Polished stone pedestals held golden and silver statues portraying nude men and women. Everything in the room was rich and lavish accentuated with the soft spell of the jazz music that was playing in the background. Most people would be in awe of this magnificent surrounding but Callie hardly noticed anything.

 _Frank is missing_

Joe's text had been brief. They had no idea where Frank was. She sucked in a shaky breath, feeling her throat constrict. Panic rose like bile in her body. She suddenly didn't know how to speak. Or walk. She just stood blankly, staring up at the massive space before her. Her palms were clammy, and it was all she could do not to knot her fingers together.

The sound of heels clicking on the marble caught her attention and she turned to see Steven walking towards her with a grave expression.

"Miss Shaw," he greeted her, "shall we?" He offered his arm to her.

Callie nodded. They were at the Marriott International Hotel for dinner appointment with Mr. Rob Virtanen. She was going to meet the man Frank had gone to speak with before he disappeared. The man she knew wasn't quite so out of the loop as his retirement plans made him appear.

They approached their table in silence. The waitress came and greeted them before rattling off the specials for the night. Steven ordered something for her; Callie couldn't care what she pushed around her plate tonight. Callie checked her phone- no messages. She looked around fighting the urge to throw up. Eventually Rob joined them at the table.

"Sorry, I was late. We have so much to do before the launch of our wonder drug. I hope you were not waiting long?" he asked apologetically.

Callie forced a smile as Steven shook Rob's hand. She knew what a snake in the grass the man was but she had to play her part. "No apologies needed. We just got here ourselves," Callie explained.

"Okay, so what's your poison?" Rob asked as he sat down. "I'm in a mood to celebrate tonight."

Callie took a deep breath. It took her every bit of restraint to not go flying at Rob and strangling him. Frank, she thought again, believed in justice, even to those who were too far gone. It was important to him and he risked his life for it. Frank led by example and Callie knew she had to do this, for him, for Erin, for Vanessa and many others who had been wronged by these monsters.

"I am so glad you could join us tonight. We understand how busy you must be right now," she managed with a fake enthusiasm.

Rob turned to Steven, saying, "You picked a perfect time to invest in us, Mr. Ranella. Once Bryonia goes on the market, you'll never have to invest in another company again."

"That would be wonderful, I am getting too old for this game anyways. I just want to retire peacefully," Steven answered, a bit of restraint in his voice.

Rob diverted the conversation away from what Callie really cared about to discuss retirement, golf, and other topics she had no interest on even on a normal evening.

Callie and Steven would interject every now and then to seem like they were very engrossed in the meeting. Rob did most of the talking and couldn't stop chatting about where he envisioned his company going and the profits they were going to mint. Suddenly Callie's phone chirped.

 _Frank is safe, going to give our statements to Chief Collig at Bayport PD_

Callie felt like the heavy brick that had been crushing her was suddenly lifted only to be replaced with a rush of adrenaline.

"So Ms. Shaw, I hope that your piece on our company and drug will be front page news tomorrow morning?" Rob endeavored.

Callie could not help smiling, His timing couldn't have been more perfect. "Yes Mr. Virtanen, that is guaranteed. Ophelia will be all anyone can talk about for a long time."

Smiling, Rob turned to Steven, "As pleasant it is to talk here tonight, the board and I do need to know what your intentions are, now that you own 8% of Virtanen?"

Steven glanced nervously at Callie, who reached out and squeezed his hand. "Actually Callie here has been instrumental in my making a decision. She asked that I sell all my shares in Ophelia."

"Oh!" Rob looked from Steven to Callie confused.

Callie took a deep breath, "I had a tip that the price is about to take a nosedive. So I only thought it fair to let Steven know about it."

"Tip? What tip?" Rob was furious.

"That senior management was about to have some very serious legal problems. In fact, I asked Steven to take his initial investment and short your company to the tune of half billion shares," Callie stated.

"You're betting against me? After making me trot out the red carpet for your damned investment in the first place? You clearly don't know who you're dealing with," Rob spat.

Callie reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. "Oh, I know exactly what kind of man I'm dealing with. And I know you don't care who you hurt to get what you want," she said coldly.

She placed the paper with three names on the table - Erin, Vanessa, and James. Rob's eyes scanned the page then snapped to Callie.

Callie stood up and Steven followed. She said, "I know the only thing you do care about is money, so that's what we're going to take from you. Your money, all of it."

"You were right Mr. Virtanen. Thanks to you, I never will have to invest in another company," Steven retorted as he threw down a wad of cash on the table.

Callie and Steven stepped back as plainclothes police officers moved in and arrested Robert Virtanen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The day had long surrendered to the shadows when the Hardy brothers along with Vanessa reached Bayport PD to answer questions and hand over their precious evidence. Frank had just been discharged by the clinic, and other than some nasty bruises, he was fine. The trio sat down with the chief of police Ezra Collig, detective Con Riley, and several other police officers.

They all gave their statements, heard the tape in its entirety - Callie had emailed it to Con earlier that night - and discussed further steps needed to wrap up the case.

Emerson had immediately folded and given them everything they needed in hopes of getting immunity. He'd rolled on Jake and his henchmen, even his own father in law.

"You boys did a fine job, took down an entire company and neatly wrapped it up for us," Collig noted. "Your father would be proud of you."

"We had help," Joe said, casting an admiring glance at Vanessa.

"Aah yes, Vanessa you are one brave girl. And if I am not mistaken, Callie kept Robert Virtanen busy while we cleaned up this mess. My men are picking him up as we speak,"Con said.

Joe quickly cast a sideways glance at his brother. Frank's jaw was set in a straight line. Joe turned to Con and asked, "Erm, is Callie okay?"

"Yes, of course. My men were there waiting with her all along. She's perfectly fine. Said something about an article to write," Con assured them.

Joe grinned, "Thank you Con. We appreciate all that you did for us too."

Con chuckled, "Just don't ask me to do it again."

"Boys," Chief Collig's voice boomed, "We have someone here who wants to talk to you." Collig ushered them into his office where they met an elderly woman sitting quietly with her head down.

"This is Erin Miller's mom, Amada Miller. She asked to speak with you. I'll leave you to it," Chief nodded at them and closed the door on his way out. Joe went and sat next to her while Frank leaned his hip against the table facing Amada.

"Erin was murdered, I was told," Amada said in a small voice.

"We are so sorry for your loss Mrs. Miller," Frank said sympathetically.

Amada nodded, "My baby died doing the right thing, I could not be prouder."

"As you should. It was your daughter who brought down this whole organization by recording her conversation. She knew the risks and yet chose to go along," Joe offered. "Without her, so many more people would have been in danger."

"If she were alive, she would have said you two are damn fine detectives. And I would agree," she reached out and held both Frank and Joe's hands in hers. "In her free time, Erin liked to teach children who didn't have access to proper education."

"Then that is what you should do, start a foundation in Erin's name to fund for education to children who can't afford it and I hear that Steven Ranella has made generous contribution to the families of every person deceased in this case. That should more than cover the expenses of setting up the foundation," Frank suggested.

Amada was looking at Frank with shining eyes. She slowly nodded and stood up to leave. The boys walked her out.

Vanessa joined them outside and as she watched Amada go she asked, "How do you get over something like this, a devastating loss?"

Joe stood up straight and let out a deep breath. "When my girlfriend died three years ago, I didn't think I could live. She meant everything to me. Every month she hosted a game night for us friends and we enjoyed them so much it became a part of us, after she passed I continued her tradition of game night. It was extremely hard at first but slowly it became a way to not only honour her memory but have her live on in our hearts."

Vanessa smiled and squeezed his hand. Then she looked apologetic and said, "I have to get going. My mother is waiting for me. It's been a few stressful days for her."

Joe cleared his throat. "Yes, I should get Frank home as well. He could use some rest"

Vanessa turned to look at both the brothers. She said earnestly, "I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me."

Frank smiled. "We're just glad it all turned out okay in the end. Take care of yourself."

Vanessa shook Frank's hand but when she turned towards Joe, she hugged him tightly. Joe returned the hug with a smile unable to be contained. "It was really nice getting to know you Vanessa," he said earnestly.

They watched Vanessa walk away and then made their way back to the van.

On the drive back home to the Hardy's apartment, Frank looked at his brother from the passenger's seat. Joe had a slight frown on his face. Frank reached out and squeezed Joe's shoulder.

"I like her," Frank said softly.

"Huh?"

"Vanessa! She saved your life when she handed you the paperclip, and for that I will forever be indebted to her," Frank replied.

"She's cool and really brave under the circumstances," Joe replied quietly.

"You know I am proud of you. You never cease to amaze me."

"Right back at ya!" Joe smiled at his brother.

They drove in silence for a bit and as Joe parked their van into the driveway Frank couldn't resist but say, "My inbox is blowing up with cases. You ready to recon some more cheating spouses?"

Joe eyes widened, and he retorted, "Oh dear God! Gimme a break, would you?"

Frank couldn't help but grin!

 _The case of Ophelia Pharma was done and dusted_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The room lit up with a bright flash of lightning, and thunder rattled the windowpane. Frank Hardy stood near the window, with his hands shoved deep into his sweatpants pockets looking out at the trees and houses that surrounded his neighborhood. The dark clouds were gathering, being pushed across the sky by the strong winds that whistled through the trees.

"Hey," called a voice from the doorway, bringing him back to the present, back from the hypnotic swaying of the trees. He didn't move and continued staring out.

Callie walked up to where Frank was standing. "I missed you last night," she said softly.

Silence. Frank still didn't reply or move.

"I had to pull an all nighter to get my article on Ophelia published for this morning. It made front page," Callie pressed on.

"Like I knew it would," Frank said quietly.

Callie took a deep breath, "I had to keep the dinner appointment Frank. Nobody knew where you were, he was my only lead. You would have done the same. Plus, I had an agreement with Steven."

"James sold the flash drive to Steven, didn't he?"

Momentarily stunned, Callie nodded. "How did you know?"

"Nobody at his age would invest so aggressively and that too conveniently around the same time James came into possession of that recording," Frank relayed.

"Steven donated every dime he made to the families of the deceased and numerous charities. If I had reported him, the money would have been tied down in paying off the many lawsuits filed against Ophelia. This way was better," Callie explained.

"What did Steve think he was buying?"

"He thought that he's bought the original, sole flash drive with the evidence on a secret affair. That way he thought that he's controlled the negative backlash and that's why he'd be making a fortune - in his mind there's no way that the scandal would come out. Steven genuinely believed that the medication is going to be profitable for a few months and he can make a good return on his investment before dropping his shares," Callie explained.

They stood in silence for some more time and then finally Frank spoke, "I know. I understand why you did it, though I wish you hadn't."

She bit her lower lip to hold back from telling him that Rob was a monster capable of unspeakable crimes. It only made sense to take the only thing he valued most away from him - _his money_. She understood why Frank was peeved, because he worried for her - _a lot._

"I was so scared last night Frank, but it is over now. I am so glad you're okay, "she said with a slight tremor.

Finally, Frank turned and looked at her. As he continued to stare, Callie's expression changed to that of worry.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Frank reached up to brush a few errant strands of hair from her lovely face, "There, that's better."

She blushed lightly but gathered her wits and pressed closer to him. When he winced at her touch she immediately jumped back. "Does it hurt a lot?" she asked softly.

"No... Too numb. You being here helps," Frank tilted his head down until they were pressed cheek-to-cheek. Callie's arms cradled his back, pulling him in.

Frank let her hold him, enjoying the warmth. Not long after, Callie tilted her face away. She angled him until their lips met. At first it was a soft touch, barely even a brush, but to Frank it was like everything good in the world was right here. Whenever he was with her, he couldn't feel anything negative or damning; all he knew was the high he was always on every time she touched him. He parted her lips and deepened the kiss.

A gentle calm washed over him. It was evident enough that Callie pulled away, satisfied.

"Still upset with me?" she asked. Her smile a bare tilt of the lips.

Frank sighed.

"I can never be upset with you Callie. As far as I am concerned, you are the most compassionate person I know." Then he added with a wink, "I missed you too last night."

"I love you," Callie smiled.

Frank slowly nodded before responding, "I know!"

Callie gaped at him and then crossed her arms across her chest. "Oh no you didn't."

"I'm kidding! I love you too," Frank grinned.

Callie rolled her eyes and started to leave. Frank called after her, "I love you mucho...I love you mucho grande."

She kept walking and was now at the bedroom door.

"I love you like gangbusters. To infinity and beyond…. I was doing a rendition of Han Solo here. Come on it's a little bit charming," Frank was worried now.

Callie stopped and turned, "It was a little bit charming. I mean, I like the groveling afterwards better."

Frank stammered, "I - I can grovel some more."

Callie laughed, "Come on, help me prep for game night. You're supposed to be hosting."

Frank didn't need to be told twice. He jogged after her and was soon walking towards the kitchen with his arm around her shoulders.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The rain lashed down onto the car park floor with the force of nails, struck by a celestial hammer. The clouds dominated the afternoon sky engulfing the sun light into its grey abyss. Row, upon row, upon row, of cars filled the car park all leading the supermarket entrance. Above the entrance stood the four letters of ASDA, glowing with green defiance against the gloomy weather. Outside was a dwindling supply of shopping trolleys, soon to be used by the next wave of rush hour customers. The huge automatic entrance door parted as Joe and Vanessa walked towards it, eager to be inside.

"Thanks again for coming with me," Joe called out to Vanessa as he brushed of the rainwater from him.

"Sure thing, I am happy to help," Vanessa took a step forward and focused on the display in front of her. She saw Joe jump as a lady tried to squeeze past him with her shopping cart.

"Yeah, that is what happens when you leave everything for the last minute," Joe grumbled. "You up for a little game?"

Vanessa laughed, "And what would that be?"

He handed her a piece of paper, "Here, this is your half of the list and I've got mine. The first one to checkout the items wins."

"You are on mister. Let the grocery games begin," Vanessa narrowed her eyes at Joe and then without warning sprinted for a shopping cart, Joe ran after her.

Five minutes later, they found themselves facing each other on the same aisle. Joe pushed his cart into Vanessa's such that she was forced to back up while Joe filled his cart with his items from the said aisle.

"Hey, no fair. This is sabotage," Vanessa cried out mockingly.

"You make up the rules as you go along. And baby this is war," Joe snickered.

Half hour later Joe made his way to the checkout lanes feeling triumphant. He looked around and smirked as Vanessa was nowhere around. Most likely still shopping. Just one more person ahead of him and the win was his. Joe froze as he heard the announcement from the PA system overhead.

 _Requesting the presence of Joe Hardy at aisle 34, there is an emergency…._

Alarmed, Joe rushed toward the announced aisle and upon getting there found an employee of the supermarket standing smiling at him. "Vanessa is a friend and she called in a favour," he shrugged.

Joe ran back to the checkout lanes to see Vanessa already checked out and blowing on her fingernails. She looked up at him and winked.

As Joe slid behind the wheel after loading all their groceries, he felt his face redden, Vanessa was sitting next to him with a beautiful smile and sparkling eyes. "How does it feel to lose?" she laughed.

Blushing he said, "It's not over, I'll get you tonight. We have some intense games planned for the evening."

"Well, bring it on," Vanessa smirked. "How's Frank doing? His injuries heal?"

"Yup! Frank is doing much better. Callie should be at the apartment now," Joe said looking at his watch.

"They have been together long?" Vanessa inquired.

"Forever, it was annoying at first to have her around all the time, now we co-exist peacefully," Joe laughed thinking about the endless bickering he and Callie engaged in as teens.

"High school sweethearts," Vanessa mused.

"Callie was already with someone when they met, but my brother was in love and does not give up easily. In the end, he bowled her over and they 've been together since," Joe recalled.

"Bowled over? Isn't that a cricket terminology?" Vanessa asked.

Joe nodded. "Yeah, picked it up during my time in London. I was there for a year as an exchange student." It was shortly after Iola had died that Joe could not bear staying in a place that constantly haunted him with her memories. He fought down a wave of sadness.

"How did Frank take it? Seems like you both are inseparable," Vanessa questioned.

Joe was silent for a bit remembering that time. Frank had immersed himself in a case that had pushed him over the edge. "I'm just glad that part of our lives is over," he finally said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening, there was a lively gathering at the Hardy's apartment. All their friends had arrived, music blared and the games were in full swing.

"Do not put Frank and Joe on the same team. I swear they can read each other's minds," Biff called out, their blond muscular friend.

"Put me with Joe," Callie announced.

"Hey, you are abandoning me babe," Frank feigned hurt.

"I love you honey, but we wanna see you go down," Callie stated giving Joe a high five.

"Don't worry Frank, I got you. I already beat Joe once today," Vanessa chirped as she took her seat next to Frank.

"Hold up," Chet yelled as he balanced chips and salsa in one hand and popcorn in the other. "I bring refreshments."

"No way, Chet has the worst poker face in the world. He is not on my team,"Joe called out.

Frank rolled his eyes as his best friend, Phil spoke up, "When will you learn, life isn't fair? Now suck up and pick a card."

By the end of the night, Frank's team had won the game of pictionary by a lot and Joe was complaining loudly and asking for a rematch.

After helping clean up moments later, Vanessa scanned the room for Joe and found him standing at the balcony. She joined him out there, "Still reeling from losing to Frank?"

Joe turned around and smiled, "Nah! Frank always wins, he is kind of annoying that way."

"Maybe, but I beat you twice today. Are you sure you don't just suck at games?" Vanessa said.

Joe got up at her face, "Are you here to gloat?"

Vanessa's heart fluttered in her chest with nervousness at Joe standing so close to her. Before she knew it, she had wrapped her arms around him. "No, I am here to collect," she leaned up and kissed him fully on his lips.

When she pulled back Joe's face had a shocked expression which turned into a smile quickly, "Well then, I believe you won twice?" He pulled her close and this time the kiss lasted long.

Flushed and breathless Vanessa took Joe's hand, "Come on, we should go inside." She smiled.

Hand in hand they made their way back inside and watched with awe as Chet and Biff performed the floss dance. Joe laughed and clapped before Vanessa nudged him to give it a try, too. They joined in to try the sensational dance step that had gripped the nation, together.

The End

 _ **A/N: Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to read this story and give me such wonderful feedback! It is always a pleasure hearing from you and I truly appreciate your support and loving comments to this story.**_

 _ **I also want to take a moment to thank my wonderful BETA Dragonmaster65 who provided immense support and encouragement throughout the story. I couldn't have done this without you.**_


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